


Cardcaptor Harry

by LunaStorm



Category: Cardcaptor Sakura, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: A Different Way of Doing Things, Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Family, Friendship, Horcruxes, Nightmares, Prophecy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-16
Updated: 2014-05-26
Packaged: 2018-01-25 00:33:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 62,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1622579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaStorm/pseuds/LunaStorm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which both Albus Dumbledore and Clow Reed would have done well to remember that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in any philosophy... or predicted by the most imprecise branch of magic...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. C for Change

Harry is six when Grunnings is bought by Minoru Murata's Japanese Drilling Company.

That wouldn't mean much to him, except that Vernon is offered the chance to move to Japan and take the control of a whole tool-making factory in Tomoeda-city. It is the opportunity of a lifetime, and, after discussing about it overnight, Petunia agrees wholeheartedly.

It is distressing to be forced to move so far away and live among foreigners for a whole two years, but the promised increase in their income is more than enough incentive to bear the discomfort. And she can always lord over the neighbouring wives what a wonderful opportunity it will be for her darling Dudley – and at such a young age, too. Cosmopolitanism is all the rage nowadays, after all.

Harry for his part isn't particularly happy at first. He doesn't think the Dursleys will like him any better in some distant place than they do in Little Whinging.

And indeed, they don't, but as it turns out, Japan improves his life dramatically.

The apartment they're given, though furnished with every modern comfort, down to a state of the art videogame home console for their precious Dudley, is small and part of a crowded complex with typically thin walls. That means that the Dursleys are unable to hide the boy away or overwork him like they are used to.

Out of the necessity to keep up appearances, Harry gets an actual bed and almost no chores.

He can hardly believe his luck, but Vernon is increasingly angry around him and Petunia fears what the neighbours' reaction might be if her husband loses control around the useless boy, so in an effort to keep him out of their hair, she signs him up for as many activities as she can get away with at that horrid foreign school that is so incapable of recognizing her precious Dudley's talents. Let these Japanese ruin the boy instead, it's not like he wouldn't have turned out bad anyway.

So Harry spends most of his day at the local Elementary School, first in classes, then in clubs, full of wonder at how many interesting thing he is allowed, nay, even encouraged to do.

With Dudley moved to a more expensive, but much easier, private international school that offers classes in English, Harry is left to discover in peace the wonders of reading and writing and art and music and numbers and science – and his hesitant grin grows a little bigger every day.

He is amazed whenever the teachers smile at him when he does things right and he's overjoyed that he's even making friends, well sort of, because the language barrier is hard to overcome, but the children don't mock him much or sneer at him and they let him play as best he can at recess.

He's happy.

That he is even allowed to eat his fill with all the others children at lunch and use books and sometimes toys without anyone punching him or stealing them away just because he's using them confirms his opinion. He _loves_ school. And he's more than happy to stay after lessons for all the activities Aunt Petunia wants him to take: he'd spend the night there as well if he only could.

The teachers frown at first: children are encouraged to only choose one club, so that they aren't overwhelmed, and as a foreign student, Harry already has difficulties learning the different language and is hard pressed to keep up with his year-mates, so they don't think it smart for him to try so many different things at once.

A few sharp observations change their tune however. They notice his skinniness and quietness and wariness, the way he hunches over his food at lunch as if in fear of having it taken away and his terrible, ragged clothes. Most of all, they notice his naked fear at the idea of being sent home, even though he tries his best to hide it, and that opens their eyes to a new perspective. So after a few hurried confabulations, their plan is put in action.

Harry doesn't realize what they're doing, the lengths they go to, to help him.

He doesn't hear the debate over scheduling and the rearranging of timetables; he just knows that he suddenly has permission to attend two clubs a day, the swimming one which doesn't require too much talking and is great fun and a calligraphy one right after, where everybody is older but that he likes because of the intriguing brushes and coloured sands and the way his 'senpai' all smile at him and are willing to help the 'cute little one'.

He doesn't understand the importance of the many many questions Masago-sensei asks him about his home and family and he has no idea that she's carefully recording all his answers; he just knows that she tells him that he's doing well enough but he could do even better and asks him to stay after the clubs are over so she can help him with homework and continue to teach him Japanese and almost incidentally she makes sure to buy him dinner at the end of their lessons and Harry loves her for it all – the food and the attention.

He isn't there for the heated discussion about his health the school nurse has with the supervisors of the sports club; he just knows that he's chosen among a group of others to join the kendo lessons that take place before school starts in the early mornings, which is awesome because they're going to be using swords one day like their senpai and he gets a breakfast of rice balls and tea and pickles with the rest of the kids, courtesy of Isao-shishou, and regular check-ups that he doesn't think much of, but lead him to get all his vaccines and a few needed supplements slipped in his morning tea and, eventually, a pair of proper glasses that make the world seem brighter and friendlier.

He doesn't realize that the kind old lady who finds him curled on the landing one morning after the Dursleys have locked him out for being late, and who patiently gets the name of his school out of his broken Japanese before accompanying him there, storms the Principal's office as soon as Harry is out of sight; he just knows that the tall and forbidding sensei who teaches English to the older students invites him to the meetings of the additional study groups, that have mysteriously been moved to the early evening, because Harry is, well, English, and he can help the students with pronunciation and conversation, and Harry finds it funny to hear the strange accents and is glad that the teacher always accompanies him home afterwards, because the Dursleys don't dare leave him to sleep on the cold landing anymore now that Hideaki-sensei is there to glare at them until they let him in.

He doesn't realize how much is being done for him, because after all, he's only six; he just knows that he's very happy. He loves Japan.


	2. A for Amazement

Harry has been in Japan for four and a half months when he meets his first Card.

His class is on a field trip, visiting the aquarium, when something goes wrong during the penguin show: suddenly there are unexplainable whirlpools and the penguin and the trainer lady are caught in what Harry can only describe as whirling ropes of water.

Harry sees a very tall, tanned young man who, judging by his uniform, works at the aquarium, jump fearlessly into the water to save the penguin and while everybody watches the rescue in amazement, he is left wondering whether he is the only one who can see the strange blue creature with the mean dark blue eyes and the fanged grin that he is sure is the cause of everything.

After all, that is not normal behaviour for water and it's the creature who's spinning those liquid rope-like strands. He climbs on the sill of the display window to see it better, palms and nose pressed to the glass: it is really impressive, with long blue hair floating in the water and pointy, webbed, bat-like ears sticking out of a small, lovely face and dark scales covering its forehead. It has no legs but instead a tail of water and as Harry stares, it dissolves into the pool, disappearing, only to reform again and provoke another dangerous whirlpool, all the while laughing with its sharp-toothed grin.

The young man struggles with the whirlpool that traps the penguin,wrapping his hands around the spinning rope of water and pulling the circle larger and larger until it thins and breaks and Harry is amazed at how strong and brave he must be.

The water creature snarls and dissolves again and swirls away like a slippery, fast serpent and Harry doesn't want it to disappear and he cries out softly, wishing he was in the water where he could chase after it, and suddenly the glass of the enclosure is no longer there and a towering wave of water crashes down on the spectators, drenching them, even as Harry topples forward into the pool.

Everybody is crying and shouting and panicking and nobody pays any attention to Harry except the courageous penguin-saver, but the child doesn't notice his dark brown eyes narrowing as he spots the strange behaviour of the water and starts swimming towards the newest whirlpool.

Harry isn't scared at all – he has learned to swim well by now and he moves swiftly through the water, just like Shimizu-sensei has taught him, too curious and fascinated to do anything other than follow the strange creature, until he manages to grab hold of a wisp of the odd-behaving water – which feels more solid and colder than he expects and reforms into a thin blue wrist.

The aquatic creature shoots up to him, looking furious, its little pointy teeth threateningly close, but Harry can't sense anything really mean from it and just blinks, then kicks himself up and out of the water surface, taking a deep breath.

“Why are you being so mean?” he asks with all the naivety of a child, looking intently at the weird-feeling water where the creature has dissolved once more. “Fish are able to live and breathe in water, but people need air to breathe, you know!”

The creature snarls at him, reforming under his grip, and hisses noiselessly; Harry feels weird, uncertain on whether it's speaking or not, because it's more like an understanding then actual words, but he sort of gets the idea that it doesn't care about people and just wants to have fun.

He glares right back: “If you hurt the poor penguin, they'll get angry and won't allow you to come here anymore! Then you won't have fun at all!”

The creature hisses again and struggles, but Harry's grip is firm even if what he's holding feels terribly weird.

“Besides, this isn't the right place for playing in the water!” he exclaims earnestly and then goes on in a self-important tone, shaking a finger at the strange creature: “If you want to go swimming for fun, you must go to the pool where everybody can always stay safe in the water and you must never go in if there is no adult around to watch over you. That's what Shimizu-sensei says!” he concludes in a friendly, conspiratorial tone.

The creature, realizing its struggles are vain, stills where it's floating and pouts prettily.

Harry gets an idea and brightens: “Why don't you come with me this afternoon? I have swimming club after school. There will be many children to play with and the pool is the right one to swim in, not like here at the aquarium. Come on, it'll be fun!” he pleads and holds out an inviting hand.

The watery creature cocks its head and stares at him long and hard, and then, to his utter shock, it vanishes in a swirl of suspended drops that glitter in the light and in its place there is a Card.

It is a big, beautiful one, the likes of which Harry has never seen. On one side there is an ornate picture of the creature, with its name, strangely in English, in a little scroll near the bottom: The Watery, Harry deciphers slowly. On the back, which is a rich, beautiful red, there is a very strange and elaborate gold symbol, which Harry immediately decides must be a magic circle because it looks so cool, with a band enclosing a twelve point star and a flaming sun in the middle and a smaller circle just inside the larger one with a moon in it.

Harry twirls the Card over and over in his hand, mesmerized by its strange beauty, barely noticing that the water all around him has been steadily flowing away and it barely reaches his waist now and its level is still lowering.

A shadow falls over him and Harry looks up in sudden fright, too paralysed to hide the Card, and gasps.

It's the tall young man who has saved the penguin and he is frowning. He has dark brown hair parted on the left side, and dark brown eyes that scrutinize Harry very intently, ignoring the water that drips from his uniform and Harry's both.

Harry pales, memories of his relatives' comments rising in him. What just happened is _not normal_ , he knows that much, and he's fearful of the reaction of this scowling grown-up. He doesn't want him to yell at Harry for being a freak.

But the tall young man softens his gaze in front of his fear and runs a hand through Harry's messy hair, quickly, gently. Harry is shocked.

“Be careful,” the young man says simply.

Harry nods dumbly: “Yes, sir.”

“And keep it safe,” the young man winks at him and then turns to Masago-sensei who is running to check Harry over and looks terribly worried.

“Nothing to worry about,” the young man reassures her, “he was just very close to the water... got a bit of a scare, is all...”

“You saved him!” exclaims the teacher, and gushes about his bravery and kindness and thanks him over and over again.

The young man bears it patiently and moves slightly to cover Harry, who hurries to slip the Card away unnoticed, all the while wondering who the strange dark-haired man is and why is he helping him and had he really seen the weird Card-creature?

Later, back to the school, a horrible thought strikes Harry and he quickly fishes out the Card and carefully, with slow precision, writes his name on it, each letter marked clearly, so that Dudley won't be able to steal it. Hopefully. He plans on keeping it hidden anyway, just to be sure, but his name on it makes him feel better.

There is a brief flare of magic when he completes his 'y' but he doesn’t understand what it is and pays it no attention.

Nobody else notices; just like no-one notices The Watery that afternoon in the swimming pool, when Harry invites her out to play with him, as promised, and they have fun together.

The aquatic creature doesn't snarl anymore and her eyes are softer and lighter as she splashes around with Harry and they dive and race underwater.

Harry is happy that nobody seems to see her. It's like having a secret all for himself, and even better, this secret is also a friend. It's brilliant.


	3. R for Resolve

Harry plays with The Watery often from then on, not only when he is swimming, but wherever there is water, be it from sprinklers or puddles or even the showers in the locker rooms.

He never notices how the young man that helped him at the aquarium is keeping an eye on him, even taking a part-time job at the swimming pool in order to check on him and the strange water-creature on a regular basis.

His sharp dark eyes observe how much he talks to the Card-creature and he is a little worried that this odd child is sharing himself so freely with something magical, but no harm seems to come from it, so he just continues watching, exactly like he does with his little monster of a sister and _her_ nonsense magic business.

When, sometime later, Harry runs into a small, cute little girl with a jester's hat, that rides a cloud and has a teardrop shaped jewel on its forehead and is all light blue, The Watery is out and they are having fun in the sprinkling rain and it's simply natural to invite the new friend to join them in a game of tag where they aren't allowed to move except from one puddle to the next.

Harry is pretty sure The Watery knows this other strange creature after all and the little blue girl goes along with their game very agreeably and soon her light purple twin sister joins them and they team up to make Harry stumble into the puddles while The Watery helps him chase them. The two new friends are both gentle and playful and a little bit mischievous and soon they are all laughing together.

When Harry realizes he's about to be late for classes and hurries The Watery along, all three creatures transform into Cards and float to his hands. He giggles and shrugs it off, watching in delight the strange symbol on the red backs of the Cards and the graceful pictures on their front and the elegantly scripted names of The Rain and The Cloud and then hurries off to school and just makes sure to put his name on his new Card-friends as soon as he is at his desk.

He is a bit surprised and a bit sad when the two mischievous sisters disappear a few days later and The Watery just giggles at him when he asks about them; but after a while they come back and they bring another friend along and soon this becomes a bit of a routine.

Some of the new ones are sweet and nice, like The Bubbles, who sometimes has a blue tail like a mermaid and sometimes blue legs and is always wearing a blue gem necklace along with some pearls tied around her bubbly head and likes to make herself useful cleaning things; or The Snow, who frowns haughtily at Harry at first but changes attitude immediately because he childishly exclaims that she's 'so pretty', with her white skin and beautiful hair and her very traditional blue-white kimono with the icicles necklace, and 'so cool' for all the fun games they can play with her help: the elegant Card-lady makes that winter the best in Harry's short life, and he doesn't even mind how terribly cold he is, playing in the snow so much.

Sometimes however the newly arrived Card-creatures are grumpy, like The Mist, who The Watery has to trap in a swirling cage so that Harry can yell at the green fog for eating away at things before it coalesces first into a meditative woman with big eyes beneath an odd blue tattoo on her forehead, and then, after he promises to show her some hidden spots in the alleys near the Dursleys' apartment block where she can lurk without annoying anyone, and she sends him feelings of agreement about not damaging stuff anymore, into a pretty Card; or The Freeze, who is very aggressive with its icy weapons and is able to freeze even The Watery, though The Mist tricks it and confuses it by creating a blanket of fog and then Harry charms it over with his excitement and his pleas to teach him how to be 'crafty and cool in battle' like that, which makes the giant koifish-like creature made of ice shatter and reform into a Card that gives the boy a feeling of smug agreement.

The hardest one to win over is The Storm, who is a very powerful and aggressive young elf with curly shoulder length hair and a wicked looking armour and doesn't seem to like Harry all that much, going so far as to summon a huge tornado around him and Hideaki-sensei one night.

Luckily the young man from the aquarium is there, this time wearing the uniform of a nearby fast-food, and helps Hideaki-sensei out of the pouring rainstorm while The Cloud and The Rain distract the wrathful elf and Harry directs The Watery to strike at the eye of the storm, forcing it to transform into a Card.

That is the night when Harry finds out that the young man's name is Kinomoto Touya and that he lives not far from the Dursleys' apartment and that he's pretty nice when he wants to be.

Harry sure likes how he ruffles his hair before leaving, just like he did at the aquarium.

Things change somewhat after Harry finds The Wave gently sloshing around The Watery one afternoon after his swimming lesson and takes it along with all the others when it transforms.

The Cloud and The Rain don't go off on their own anymore and for a while, Harry wonders if they've found all their strange friends already.

But then one Sunday he sneaks out at dawn because he wants to go to the park the children at school are always talking about and he arrives so soon the place is empty of people, but not deserted.

He finds a rather strange looking stuffed pink rabbit with long floppy ears first, and he's sure it's just like all his Card-friends. It's hard to corner it however because it's continuously bouncing around; eventually, The Wave helps Harry to catch its attention by drenching it in mid-leap, after which it seems scared and the boy, regretful, hugs it and pets it to calm it down until it transforms into The Jump Card.

Then it's the time of a giant white bird with a long neck and short beak, followed by a mischievous large balloon with white wings that likes to make things float.

The bird makes Harry's eyes light up and he coax and cajoles and finally sweet-talks the creature into letting him ride it for a short flight. It takes Harry almost no time at all to launch into a game in which he and the bird fly after all the levitating objects, and when he catches them all, which takes surprisingly little time because Harry is quite good at this game, The Fly and The Float happily join his other Cards too.

When his school-mates arrive, they find him napping serenely under a tree, tired but happy, all his Card-friends securely in his pocket.

All the while Harry is unaware of how Touya is watching over him and doesn't realize how odd it is that he is forever running into him 'by chance', though he always greets the tall young man happily.

He also knows nothing of how Touya's little sister, Sakura, is going about collecting the Cards as well and unlike him, she has a clear idea of what and why and how.

Sakura, too, has no idea of Harry's existence or of the fact that he is capturing as many Cards as she is.

Keroberos is suspicious, however.

There are Cards that Sakura isn't finding, ones that he only catches a hint of before they disappear. That isn't right – it shouldn't be happening.

At first he thinks that maybe it's the brat, but like every Li he's ever met, this one too has a big ego and even bigger mouth and if he had that many Cards, he would be gloating about it. Besides, Sakura's warm personality is slowly but surely winning him over. They'll be working together before the brat knows it.

No, the only explanation is that someone else must be gathering the Cards.

Behind his boisterous, fun-loving and, he admits, perhaps a little childish behaviour, Keroberos is smart, acute and perceptive and takes his responsibilities as Guardian of the Cards very seriously.

He is also a lot more observant than people give him credit for.

It doesn't take him long to find out about Harry and he sets himself to carefully observe him. And his interactions with the Cards that he has already, and with those he finds.

He doesn't like the conclusions he draws overly much, because Sakura has grown on him and she is a good friend, like he had never expected to find, but he can not deny what he sees and senses.

He follows Harry the whole night of the festival at Tsukimine Shrine, while Sakura is preoccupied with Yukito, hidden from view but paying sharp attention to the child's actions, and his decision is made when Harry captures The Glow.

That is a peculiar Card, with no great magic of its own, which means that those who only seek the Cards for their power won't ever be able to catch it. Keroberos snorts when the Li brat doesn't even notice it, despite walking right under it, and he sighs when he sees that Sakura does notice, but is too distracted with Yukito and the confession she's determined to make to him tonight. Though Keroberos smiles indulgently at that, he knows she will not find it there anymore when she comes back like she's promised herself.

Harry on the other hand spots it immediately and runs away from the group of classmates he is with to stand under the tree where hundreds of tiny glowing lights that resemble fireflies are sparkling, turning around and around with huge, enthralled eyes.

He claps his hands delightedly when the tiny, softly glowing orbs float down slowly all around him, touching the ground gently like cherry-flower petals, and then asks softly: “That's so pretty! Can I take you home with me?"

The tiny fairy with the glowing tail doesn't even hesitate before turning into a sparkling Card and floating down to his waiting hands.

Kero watches as Harry writes his name on it and then, to the Guardian's surprise, introduces it to the Cards he already has, chatting away at them under cover of a few bushes.

Keroberos goes back home frowning.

He raids the fridge for anything sweet, then throws himself into a vicious battle against his favourite video-game character, but it's no use, he can't concentrate.

Keroberos doesn't like the Li brat one bit, but this English child is intriguing. So powerful so young. Kero is reminded of Clow a lot and he doesn't even know why, because personality-wise, they're nothing alike.

There is no denying however that his magic is strong and most importantly, the Cards like him. That is perhaps the most worrisome thing, but at the same time, the most promising.

When the time for Yue to Judge comes, he will present them both – Sakura _and_ Harry.

He still hopes Sakura becomes Mistress of the Cards because he's grown to genuinely care for the pink sprite, but it will be up to Yue in the end, and either will do for him.

Decision made, Kero goes back to his videogame.


	4. D for Discoveries

The new school-year starts before Harry realizes it and the teachers help him choose new clubs, subtly influencing him so that his schedule is once again full and they can keep an eye on him and make sure he's well cared for.

He is too happy about trying out for the track runners team and joining the choir club to pick up on their concerned efforts, but Touya, who's still keeping an eye on him, confronts them about it.

There is a bit of a face-off because they want to know what his interest in the boy could possibly be, but Touya is a model student after all and well-known and liked and besides, he has plenty of his own observations to add to theirs, even though he keeps carefully under wraps anything that has to do with magic, so in the end, they accept that he just wants to help and draw him into their plans.

Within himself, he reiterates his promise to keep an eye on the strange child with his sister's same power – not that the teachers know that, of course, but he does, and that is enough.

Meanwhile, Harry is facing a bit of a crisis. His kendo class is preparing a group of thirteen years old to test for their first dan, and suddenly, Toshi-senpai, the best of them, starts randomly attacking his friends. He is also showing impossibly good skills, beating even Isao-shishou, who is a master swordsman, but what makes it all terrifying is the dead, dull look in his eyes, as if something else is in control of his body.

Harry is as scared as all his friends from the club and doesn't know what to do, but he notices that his supposedly wooden practice sword is cutting through anything, even metal. That can't be right!

Then something amazing happens: Li-senpai, an older boy that has just joined the club after transferring to Harry's school from Hong Kong, runs away and when he comes back, he's got an amazing sword in his hands.

Harry's eyes are big, because what he's wielding is no blunted habiki sword used for displays of kata, but a real, awe-inspiring one and it seems to be the only thing able to deflect several blows from the all-cutting sword in Toshi-senpai's hands with relative ease.

Li-senpai is very good and darts around his opponent with powerful grace, but although he can keep up with the possessed boy, who is cutting things left and right, he doesn't seem to be able to stop him.

Harry nods slightly to himself, then slips quietly by, unnoticed, and he whispers to his Card-friends, asking for help: under his barely audible instructions, The Storm grins evilly and summons a rainstorm that distracts everybody, especially when Harry sends The Rain and The Wave to blow the windows open so that the wicked elf can stir up mayhem inside the dojo with their help; in the meanwhile The Mist blinds the two fighters and separates them and then The Freeze quickly traps the possessed boy so that Harry, with the help of The Jump, can snatch the strange sword from his frozen fingers, quickly hiding behind The Cloud.

He frowns at the thing in his hands fiercely and feels something alien creep into his mind and he hisses “Stop that!” so furiously that the quivering thing in his hands stills, then glows brightly and coalesces into a Card, which falls to the ground.

Suddenly Harry feels exhausted. All the other Cards fall to the ground as well, as the power sustaining them drains off all of a sudden, and it's all Harry can do to pick them all up and slip them in his pocket while everybody's still confused and disoriented.

He is so terribly tired afterwards, he can barely stay upright. Isao-shishou fears that he's been caught up in the storm and possibly hurt and quickly takes him to the school nurse, who is alarmed when he simply falls asleep on her. She is convinced that he must have a concussion and decides to bring him to the nearby hospital because she knows his relatives aren't trustworthy and the school infirmary isn't good enough.

Harry sleeps away the day and doesn't hear Li and Sakura's agitated discussion about the Card that wrecked havoc but then disappeared, because Li is certain that he's felt it but now it's nowhere to be found and they're worried; nor does he hear the wild gossip being exchanged around the school, because Toshi-senpai's parents have been called about his strange behaviour and all sorts of weird theories are being exchanged among the students; and he doesn't know that Touya finds out quite by chance from his sister that he's been hurt in the storm and he's beyond worried.

When he wakes up in a strange white bed, Touya is sitting next to him and glaring. Harry shrinks back on the pillow, but the young man is having none of it and Harry has no choice but to tell him everything he's done.

To his surprise, Touya calms slightly as the story goes on and he puts two and two together. He is relieved that Harry isn't hurt, just tried to do too much.

Harry for his part is amazed that not only Touya doesn't hurt him at all but he doesn't even yell or anything. He just calmly explains that to use too much magic all at once is dangerous and he should be more careful.

Harry is wide eyed, because on some level, he knows what he does is magic, it's obvious what his Card-friends are, but it's still astounding to hear a grown-up saying it so naturally and he still isn't at all sure that it's alright that he can do what he does.

He is in too much shock to object when Touya demands to see his latest acquisition and just hands it over, surprised at seeing that the picture is of a beautiful sword with a winged hilt, chained by many chains, which is a little sad he thinks.

Touya scowls ferociously at the Card and then looks Harry dead in the eye and makes him promise that he will not use that Card at all: “I want you to continue with your kendo lessons and I want you to take them seriously,” he tells Harry in a very no-nonsense voice, “and I don't want you to use this Card unless you have earned at least one dan. It's too dangerous, you could get hurt, or hurt others. Are we clear?”

Harry nods frantically and Touya almost-but-not-quite-smiles and gets up to go, ruffling Harry's hair affectionately before disappearing out of the room.

Harry smiles, still a little stunned, and his grin grows wider when he sees that Touya has left him a small bag of assorted daifuku, his favourite treats.


	5. C for Captivation

Harry's life goes on and he's almost accustomed now to the odd turns it can take thanks to his Card-friends.

Despite this, he is badly shocked when the best singers on the school choir he's joined all lose their voice at once, because unlike everybody else, who think it's an illness, he can see the young pink girl with long feather-like ears and wavy hair hiding in corners and giggling madly and he is sure it's her fault.

Neither him nor his Card-friends can get the stubborn girl to give back the voices she's stealing however and in the end, she even steals Harry's voice, which is really terribly frustrating.

The boy falls to the floor in an out-of-the-way classroom and hugs his knees and cries silently because he's angry at the silly girl and frustrated at his incapability to produce any vocal noise and a little scared that he'll be a mute forever now and while he's there all alone, another young girl approaches, this one wearing a blue and lavender dress that resembles the front of a string instrument and bluish-lavender headgear that reminds of a musical clef.

She is very shy and is easily scared away by sudden movements, but Harry coaxes her back to him, fighting down his frustration at having lost his voice, and she finally sits by him and tries to console him by singing him a little song.

When Harry recognizes the voice of Tomoyo-senpai, the most talented singer in the school, he is shocked all over, even more so when he sees the annoying pink girl sliding closer from behind a door, fascinated by the singing lavender creature.

The two girls start a duet using the same voice and Harry doesn't really know what to do to get his voice back, or everybody else's for that matter, but he doesn't want them to disappear off somewhere, so he politely claps at their performance.

They beam brightly at him and to his surprise, transform into Cards, and when he writes his name on The Voice, he can suddenly talk again: he laughs out loud in relief.

He is far less surprised when he spots a blue, fox-like creature with long rabbit ears speeding unbelievably fast alongside him and the track runners one afternoon; he is unsettled however when, after realizing it's too fast to catch and growing frustrated with its fleeing up a wall of all places, he suddenly finds himself on the rooftop, with the creature running straight into his arms.

He's quick to pet it and promise that they can run together everyday as long as it doesn't make any troubles and when it transforms, he writes his name on The Dash pensively. He can only guess that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump when he tried to catch the elusive little fox.

Be that as it may, The Dash joins his growing list of Card-friends and Harry finds that it is very good-natured and likes to be cuddled; just the opposite of The Sleep, who is very independent and self-sufficient, rather like a cat.

Harry is a bit put off by the periwinkle fairy-like little girl's self-reliant attitude. She isn't interested in playing with him and the others and she refuses to even listen to him: she just goes around, waving her small wand and making random people fall asleep with her magical dust.

He has no idea, naturally, that she's so pouty because she's used to work together with her friend The Time, who has been captured by Li already, and therefore doesn't want to be caught by him; but he discovers a stubborn streak that keeps him on the tail of the little creature with the star on its forehead and one overlarge feathered ear rather doggedly.

Eventually it's The Lock that helps him: he runs into it by chance while he's chasing down The Sleep and gets trapped in a classroom full of sleeping people.

Harry patiently tries to turn the key of the door, again and again, in vain, and finally decides that the lock-hole must be rusty or something and calls The Bubbles for help. He's completely surprised when a small green and yellow padlock, with a front mounted drum and little wings straddling the chamber of the lock, appears under the little mermaid's enthusiastic ministrations. He is always happy to make new friends however and The Lock is quick to help him trap the pouty fairy he'd been chasing in the first place.

It's again The Lock that helps him with the mayhem he accidentally releases when he writes on a blank storybook Masago-sensei has given him.

He has to write a short story for his Japanese class and he forgot to do it in good time, so he's having to come up with something at night, and unexpectedly, everything he writes down in the beautiful hard-bound book becomes real.

Soon the room he shares with Dudley is full of small slimy monsters and a hero that looks like The Freeze but has a sword like Li-senpai's, and Harry has to beg The Sleep to keep his relatives safely asleep, because he doesn't even want to imagine what their reaction would be to this disaster.

Thankfully with The Lock's help he can contain everything that came from the storybook inside the bedroom, so it's just a matter of patiently defeating all the swarming little monsters, which Harry does by quickly and efficiently bopping them on the head with the book itself, and watching The real Freeze fight with the created one, which is simply awesome and puts stars of excitement in Harry's eyes, and finally, clean everything up with The Bubbles' help before collapsing onto the bed, beyond exhausted, right after he's written his name on The Create and hid all his Card-friends away again.

The Dursleys are annoyed that he's apparently ill the next day and can't be thrown out at dawn as usual, but Harry thinks it's all worth it: his games of make-belive from then on are way more interesting and ever more complicated, courtesy of The Create's nocturnal power.

Meanwhile, Touya has taken to show up semi-regularly and walk him to or from school chatting with him rather than just watching him from afar. Well, Harry talks, a lot in fact. Touya is rather the silent type, but Harry is quite happy with chatting away at him, even if the older bloke doesn't say much at all, and he always looks forward to these little strolls longingly.

One day, Touya shows up with a dark scowl on his face and for a moment Harry is terrified that the dark-haired youth is angry at him, but Touya is quick to reassure him with his irritated grumblings about a brat and a plush toy and their not being convincing at all.

Harry doesn't understand much of it, but he knows Touya well enough by now to guess that his little sister must be in some kind of trouble. Nothing gets to Touya like a threat to the 'little monster'.

He is a bit disappointed that his friend's mind is so clearly away, but he understands after all and stays quiet, wondering if he should push Touya into going after his sister since he's so worried, instead of walking with him. But Touya beats him to the punch and asks him to come along instead!

Harry stares at him wide-eyed and Touya shrugs: “I was hoping one of your little Card-friends might help,” he admits.

Harry lights up with excitement. After the hospital episode, he's talked with Touya about his magic a bit. He's always hesitant and wary and tiptoes around the topic with more care than what he uses when he's polishing Isao-shishou's blades, but it's just too good to have someone as cool and trustworthy as Touya know and help with it all. Even if he's rather scared that the young man might suddenly decide he's a freak after all.

This, however... to have Touya not only tolerate this oddity of his, but value it...!

Afterwards, Touya is surprised at how much more open and trusting Harry becomes around him, and a little uncomfortable at the slight adoration Harry looks at him with. He can't know just how much his support means to the green-eyed child.

He has to admit however, that it feels good to be relied upon like that. He wishes his own silly little sister would trust him that much, instead of going off on her own and getting into all sorts of dangers.

It takes Harry and Touya an entire afternoon to track down the blue chameleon-like creature that apparently can switch two people around by shooting out its tongue and in the end, it's Touya's best friend, Tsukishiro Yukito, who helps them rather unwittingly, because the creature's power for some reason or another doesn't work on him and Harry is quick to pounce on it while it's confused by this.

Yukito is happily munching strawberry pocky and doesn't notice a thing, especially as his attention is caught by a crash and a triumphant yell from inside Touya's house, where there isn't supposed to be anyone. Touya's eyes are narrowed dangerously at his sister's window however, so Harry doesn't dare ask and lets the young man distract him and Yukito by making introductions.

Yukito is kind and gentle and has the biggest and most heart-warming smile Harry has ever seen. He is also always hungry and has a sweet tooth that Harry unconditionally approves of. Harry likes everything of him, from his gentle brown eyes to the friendly way he beams when he offers him and Touya a pocky.

Touya isn't at all surprised that Harry takes to his grey-haired friend almost immediately. Everybody adores Yuki. It's almost irritating – except that, of course, it's impossible for him to be truly mad at his best friend.

The two take Harry back for his evening meeting with the English study group and then they go off by themselves, but not before Touya manages to drag Harry off to the side and make it very clear that he is not, under any circumstances, allowed to use his new Card-friend The Change for pranks.

Harry pouts a little, because he could already imagine all the fun that could be had with it, but nods in acceptance.

Besides, Yukito pops up next to them, curious about their plotting, and his mere presence tears a genuine grin from Harry. It's just impossible to be grumpy around him.


	6. A for Anguish

It is out of a wish to do something nice for Yukito that Harry gets The Sweet.

He's decided that Touya's best friend really deserves a thank-you gift for helping them, even if he doesn't know he did and they don't know how he did it.

He wants to bake some dango for him, thinking he might appreciate a treat since he's always hungry: he's even found a recipe he is sure he can manage and he's taken a leaf out of Touya's book and earned a little money for the ingredients helping the kind old lady who lives next door buy her groceries.

He gets his chance one Sunday when the Dursleys pompously tell him that they're taking Dudley to a popular amusement park. They lock him out of course ('so he can not blow the place up when they aren't looking', according to Vernon) but it isn't exactly a problem: The Float is happy to help him reach the window Petunia has left half-open.

The dango turns out more complicated than it sounds unfortunately, and the mitarashi sauce is nothing like breakfast bacon even if both are done in a pan, and soon the kitchen is a mess of rice flour and dumplings of dough and water splashes and sticky soy sauce and spilled sugar.

The Bubbles has her work cut out for her and Harry is about to despair when The Glow comes out of her Card form all on her own and winks at Harry before dashing away like a miniature shooting star.

Harry is perplexed, but his glowing Card-friend is soon back and she's leading a small fairy with hair that makes Harry think of cotton candy and a yellow dress with a skirt that looks like cream puff. She smiles at Harry and waves her cute tiny wand and his half-baked attempts turn into perfectly sweet round dumplings artfully skewered and covered with golden-brown sauce.

They taste delicious, too, and Harry's beaming at The Sweet so brightly that The Glow shoots out shiny little orbs all over to match his smile.

With The Sweet's help Yukito's present turns out perfect and Harry gets a chance to meet Touya's little sister, Sakura, because she's there when he hands his gift out, along with her friends Li-senpai and Tomoyo-senpai, whom he knows from the clubs they attend together.

They're all very friendly, but Harry thinks there's something just a little more special about Touya's sister. She's radiant, and beaming, and bright, and it's not just her bubbly, charming personality. It's like there's a star inside her, glowing brightly and spilling white light from her very heart.

He blabs it out too, and then promptly blushes a deep red, embarrassed.

Sakura thinks it's a very sweet compliment and blushes as well as she thanks him, causing Li-senpai to glower at him rather frighteningly, and Touya to glare right back at the 'brat', and Yukito and Tomoyo to laugh themselves silly at the pair.

But Kero, from Sakura's pocket where he's hidden, narrows his eyes at Harry and grins. Now that Harry's mentioned it, he can sense the Card hiding in Sakura's heart, which he'd overlooked before. The kid is _good_. His decision to present them both at the Judgement is reinforced.

Despite his growing respect for Harry, however, Keroberos doesn't particularly want to introduce himself to the child. He's really grown fond of Sakura and it almost seems a betrayal to go to someone else who is, in effect, her rival.

All the same he has no choice when Sakura fails at capturing The Illusion and gets entangled in its ensnarement.

As Kero well knows, The Illusion is an aggressive card with a mind all of its own and Clow Reed himself had troubles controlling it at times. It has no compunction attempting to kill Sakura by luring her over a ridge with an image of her dead mum.

It is a scarily cunning choice of illusion. Despite his efforts, Keroberos is unable to save Sakura, because she's so happy at seeing her mother again that she outright rejects him, her magic acting upon her strong desire despite the horrible danger it puts her in. Sakura has to be saved by Yukito, who thankfully happens to be there right on time to catch her, but Kero is too worried about her to just let her go off against the dangerous Card again.

Instead, he shows up at the end of Harry's choir meeting, in his borrowed form, to tell the child the truth about what all is going on.

Harry doesn't know what's more shocking, that a little yellow plush bear with big ears and small white wings is talking to him – not just giving him decipherable feelings like his Card-friends do, but actually using words – or what all Keroberos is saying.

Clow Reed and the creation of the Cards, the mixing of Eastern and Western Magic, the Book and the Seal and the Selection, his being a Cardcaptor and Sakura-chan being one too...

Harry's head is spinning and he can barely understand what he's hearing. That all this is being told by an increasingly frenzied plush toy hovering in mid-air just makes it all too surreal for words. He is confused and overwhelmed and when Kero orders him in no uncertain terms to go help Sakura against The Illusion, he is too stunned to do anything but obey.

When the two finally track Sakura down, the girl is being tricked again and all Harry can think of doing is jump in between her and the hovering kaleidoscope pattern shimmering just off the edge.

Instantly he can see a woman smiling at him and waving him over. He freezes.

He doesn't remember if Kero has told him how this Card works or what to do about it, but anyway, he's too lost in the loudness of his suddenly pounding heart to focus.

She is such a pretty woman, with dark red hair and green, green eyes. Exactly like Harry's. And then there's a tall, thin, black-haired man walking up to her and sneaking an arm around her waist and he, too, smiles and waves, and his hair are wild and untidy, just like Harry's, and the boy knows.

“Mom?” he whispers, “Dad?” and he's already taking an involuntarily step, and then another, even if something in the back of his mind is screaming they are not real, because they're good enough for his desperate wish, and they're there, and smiling, and oh-so-close, and Harry can't look his fill.

But his arrival has shocked Sakura out of her bespelled state at last and he hears her work out the truth: “If you were really my mother... you wouldn't do that! You wouldn't put me in danger!”

Before he can get his wits about him, she's determinedly twirling and pointing a bright pink staff and bracing herself in front of the apparition, her confident voice shouting a command for the creature to 'return to its true form' and the illusion melts into sharply white light and is slowly absorbed in a glowing Card shape under Sakura's staff point.

Harry flinches a little when he hears the girl call The Illusion 'Clow Card'. It's all real, then, what the plush toy said.

Sakura's actions are unlike any meeting Harry has had with his own Card-friend and he thinks he understand, now, why Keroberos calls them 'Cardcaptors'. It is certainly a capture, what she's just done, and a rather spectacular one at that.

Harry feels rattled and Kero's urgently whispered pleas to not let Sakura know of his status as Cardcaptor don't help. He appears lost and confused to Sakura and she embarrassedly attempts to explain away what happened without giving out her secret more than she thinks she has.

It is only Yukito showing up unexpectedly that breaks the uncomfortable tableau, but Sakura and Harry both relax in his presence and the ice-creams he buys them both are much appreciated.

Harry though can't get over the whole thing and he spends the night being haunted by confusing nightmares, so the next day he seeks out Touya where he's working at a riding stable just outside Tomoeda and babbles out everything to him.

Not about his parents, although that's what most in his mind, because he's half ashamed that he's let the Card trick him with something he knows is impossible and half determined never to think of them anymore, it's just too painful; but about the whole 'talking plush toy' part – how complicated everything suddenly is and how confusing and how he feels like someone just put a heavy rucksack on his shoulder without asking him permission first, and how he feels like he's running in circles because he can't figure out if it's him who's doing it all wrong, or maybe Sakura is, or what...

He blurts it all out and he feels he's getting himself ever more confused and he doesn't even manage to explain himself clearly.

Touya sighs and ruffles his hair affectionately and tells him not to worry. “Just go on as you are used to. You're not doing anything wrong so don't go worrying about what that damn stuffed lion that's been hiding in my sister's room tells you.”

Harry bits his lips and is about to retort but they are distracted, by none other than Sakura appearing at the edge of the nearby wood. She waves at them with a cute smile and beckons before disappearing among the trees.

“But that's impossible!” blurts out Harry, “Tomoyo-senpai wasn't at the choir meeting today because her class is on a field trip to a strawberry plantation, Sakura-chan should be there as well! How can she be here, and all alone?”

Touya has already put his pitchfork down and is shrugging off his outer coveralls: “Come on, we need to find out who or what that is.”

They catch up to the elusive figure without too much trouble and Touya sighs at the imitation of his little sister, smiling oh-so-innocently and beckoning him to where she can bump him into the hole he wouldn't have spotted if he hadn't been on alert.

He doesn't even know how to handle this mess: it's far too unnerving for his tastes.

"I know you're not Sakura," he says finally, looking the creature in the eye with his most stern frown. Her eyes go wide and scared and Touya almost flinches because this is the face of his little sister and that's an expression he never wants to see on it.

Harry pipes up from the other side of her: "No need to look so scared," he says gently, "we'll take care of you anyway."

That is not what Touya had in mind, but if it's how Harry wants to handle things, it's fine by him.

The creature wavers, looking shocked, but then she changes and a huge smile spreads over her face, a face that is now completely different, to Touya's relief, framed by beautiful, long green hair and with pale, almost glowing skin and three triangles tattooed on her forehead. She is wearing a lovely white kimono and holds a mirror with tassels on either side to her chest.

“Oh!” exclaims Harry in surprised delight: “You must be The Mirror!”

She nods and smiles even wider and transforms into her Card form and Touya finds it all pretty amazing. He shakes his head in wonder while Harry writes his name on it and gently tucks it away with his other Card-friends.

“A mirror,” he repeats amused. “Alright. You can tell her that I don't mind if she shows up from time to time, ok?”

Harry nods, eyes sparkling, and they return to the stable together and all in all, Harry feels much better.

He doesn't remotely suspect that as soon as his shift is over, Touya marches home and confronts the 'damn stuffed lion' right away, berating him for putting his sister and Harry in danger and making Kero sweat at the amount of irritated power poured on him by the wrathful young man.

Keroberos decides there and then that he does not want to anger Touya again. Ever.

Harry anyway makes it a point to visit with Kero from time to time, even if the Guardian has begged him not to reveal to Sakura the truth, and to keep him informed when he 'captures' a new Card.

In quick succession, he finds The Move, a mischievous but funny spirit, capable of making objects disappear from one place and re-appear in another, much to their owners' despair, and Harry's delight in the challenge of seeking and catching the little wings that flare and flutter on whatever object it inhabits just before it moves it; and later, The Erase, a small imp, dressed in a yellow-and-white-patterned court jester's outfit with a large ruff around its neck, that leads Harry on quite a chase, especially since he keeps forgetting where he is and why he's there, and he has to make up a little rhyme to remind himself of what he's doing and ask The Song to sing it over and over, until he manages to steal the trickster's long, double pointed, trailing hat, thus convincing it to return to its Card form.

The last Card-creature Harry captures is a mysterious blue butterfly which he hunts with more desperation that he's ever felt before after she makes him dream that his mum and dad are alive and coming to take him away.

It's both difficult and painful for him to accept, in the end, that it's just a Card-creature and not anything that can actually come true. He is troubled and moody for a while after the whole ordeal and not even Touya can get him to talk about it, and all of Sakura's and Tomoyo's efforts to cheer him up seem to be in vain.

In the end, it's to Yukito that he confesses his 'dream': he can't help it, really, there is something to the bespectacled smiling young man that just calls to him and makes him feel relaxed and happy in his presence, despite himself at times.

And although the older bloke doesn't know about Harry's magic adventures and can't understand how real and hurtful the experience was, and how stupid Harry feels for letting his hopes up when he should have known the harsh truth, he can still find words of comfort for the hurting child.

“It's not silly, Harry” he says simply, with his gentle smile. “Love never is.”

And it is enough for Harry to feel a little less alone.

Meanwhile, Sakura continues in her efforts to collect the Cards, and when The Dark plunges everything around her in pitch-black shadows, it's the memory of Harry's compliment that helps her find The Light in her heart and seal the pair.

It is not long after that, when she finds and seals the last Clow Card at an archery tournament Yukito is about to win, and Harry and Touya, who are watching from the sidelines, agree that it is quite something to see Sakura bind that great big thing of dirt with that magic tree of hers.

Not to mention the plush toy turning into a winged, armoured, lion-like beast.

And just like that, the time for the Final Judgement comes.


	7. P for Proven

Yue is surprised that Keroberos is presenting two candidate Cardcaptors, but manages not to show it. If barely.

He sneers at both of them anyway.

One is a little girl who looks too soft for normal life, let alone a magical one; the other is an even younger child who barely has any idea of what's going on.

He is quite sure that neither has what it takes to step into _His_ role. Really. Keroberos should have known better.

The children are watching him in open-mouthed wonder, dazed by the stunning, otherworldly beauty of his large wings and flowing silver hair and glowing white silken robes.

Yue can only feel irritation at the obvious effects of moon-attraction.

He is mentally grumbling at his fellow Guardian's obvious lack of sense. Sure, Keroberos is bossy, demanding, and irritatingly gluttonous, but he usually takes his duties to the Cards and to _Him_ more seriously than this! Yue really has to wonder what the Selector was thinking when he made his choice.

At least he's being formal, having shed his silly borrowed form in favour of his real one, complete with enormous angelic white wings and the chestplate of beaten metal, studded with rubies, that makes his huge lion body look nothing short than impressive.

He intones the ritualistic words gravely, presenting his candidates, and then ruins it all by whining about the presence of the third 'brat' – whom, he specifies, is _not_ there on his recommendation. At. All.

Yue rolls his eyes at his fellow Guardian's antics – being sealed in the Book has clearly done nothing to temper his childish tendencies – but is nevertheless relieved to hear that Keroberos' stance on this is the same of his own: no Li is going to be their Master, not in a million years!

The Li Clan had come down on their wrong side from the very start and stayed there, in spite of the unexplainable despairing affection _He_ had for his mother's family, and nothing has changed in this regard. It'll be a pleasure to part this upstart from the Cards he is undeserving of, and possibly from a good chunk of his ego.

He hardly matters, however. Sakura and Harry, these are the ones who are truly trying to lay claim on the Cards – and the ones Yue feels the most angry at. The arrogance of thinking themselves _His_ equals...

It is pretty evident that the situation is steadily confusing them, but the boy seems to grow quiet and scared rather than frustrated, so Yue is not surprised when it's the girl that at last breaks through her bewilderment enough to demand what is going on.

Clearly, none of them expects what he is about to do. Keroberos must have not warned them. He finds a dark sort of satisfaction in this.

Yue waits, patient, emotionless, as his fellow Guardian explains what he can about the Final Judgement and they slowly put the pieces together.

The lion-like Guardian's sober words shock all three children, even the Li, who should if nothing else have read the accounts _He_ left with his mother's family.

Yue can barely refrain from sneering.

It is quite apparent, to him, that the whole Judgement is useless in this instance. None of them has gathered all the Cards for themselves and he can already sense that they aren't powerful or knowledgeable enough to defeat him. They have potential, that much he'll admit, but that's all – and it won't help them in the here and now.

The girl, Sakura, turns to the huge winged lion, indignant and hurt: “Kero-chan!” she cries, “I thought you were my friend! Why didn't you tell me...”

Her voice breaks; Yue restrains himself from commenting on her silliness, though he is almost disgusted at having to Judge her. He reminds himself that she is very young and of course naïve, but by the same reasoning, she shouldn't be there, attempting to master them, attempting to take _His_ place. As if.

He glowers at the Sun Guardian, but the lion-like creature ignores him, too occupied with reassuring the girl. Figures.

Yue is irritated by the realization that Keroberos genuinely cares about Sakura and believes that she will become the next Mistress of the Card. The innumerable sweets he has no doubt gulped down must have affected his brain.

Yue is polite enough not to make his thoughts known, however, and merely watches on as Keroberos, resplendent in the jewelled armour of his true form, looks into her eyes gently: “I am your friend, Sakura-chan. And I hope you'll win – I really do. But tonight, I am acting as Sun Guardian, and my duty to the Cards comes first.”

Yue is startled at that. Perhaps he has underestimated the bratty lion.

“And the Cards like Harry-kun, you know,” adds Keroberos.

Yue is surprised again, surprised and intrigued. He subtly watches the youngest boy with a lot more interest and attention. Yes, there is more to him than meets the eye, despite his terribly young age.

He has to hand it to Keroberos. His commitment and devotion to their role are intact, his intelligence unhindered, and his observation skills, it seems, more honed than Yue's.

The Moon Guardian feels unsettled by how much the boy reminds him of _Him_.

Anger rises in him instantly, potent. There is no way... no way anyone – anywhere – could take _His_ place. Certainly not a mere child. He turns brusquely away from the unnerving boy and to the sobbing girl who's now thrown her arms around the huge, maneless lion.

“But... will you still... be my friend, if, if...” sniffs Sakura.

“Always,” promises Keroberos. “I'll always be there for you if you need me. To comfort and to guide you as best as I can. I promise.”

Yue rolls his eyes again. As corny as her actions are, they're less unsettling than the green stare and frown on the other child, the one with an aura that reminds him of... of the past. But enough is enough.

“It's time to finish this,” Yue states regally. “We will now begin the Final Judgment. First,” he commands imperiously, and the Li boy is caught in a hypnosis spell, eyes vacant and body limp, and floats to a nearby rooftop.

Sakura cries out and Kero tries to reassure her and hold her back at the same time. Harry is conspicuously silent, his lower lip caught between vicious teeth, his huge, bewildered eyes wide as he desperately tries to make sense of things.

The Moon Guardian's eerily beautiful voice resounds all around them: “I, Yue the Judge, will now conduct the Last Judgement. Using all the Clow Cards in your hands, defeat me.”

Sakura and Harry gasp, shocked, and then scream when crystal energy shards form in Yue's hand and he flings them at Li.

They watch their friend struggle, and he puts up a good fight, dodging and jumping and shooting fire magic at his opponent, but it's pretty clear that he's no match for the Moon Guardian. Yue is merely toying with him.

Then it's Sakura's turn. The words are rote, and Yue is thankful for this, because the turmoil of his emotions is catching him off guard.

“Cards created by Clow. There is one wishing to become your Master.” Rage and grief swirl inside him, even as his face remains as cold and as impassive as a marble sculpture. “A girl chosen by Keroberos the Selector. Her name is Sakura. To see if she is truly worthy of being our Master,” as if the truth of her inadequacy wasn't evident, “I, Yue the Judge, will now conduct the Final Judgment.”

Sakura is scared. Her fear is radiating from her, like an aura, but it isn't due to the trial she is about to face. She is looking for Yukito in this cold, daunting stranger, searching for her friend in this gorgeous but forbidding creature.

When she calls Yukito's name, Yue doesn't bother telling her that it is futile.

Keroberos sighs, seeing how small and lost she appears. She has never looked less warriorlike, more vulnerable, and he knows it's the fear of losing her friend that cripples her, more than anything else ever could.

He speaks almost without thought, simply driven to comfort her, and his voice reaches her, gentle, caring: “Whatever happens, remember that I care for you, and always will.”

Yue frowns, but then his expression smooths out. There is genuine emotion in Keroberos' tone, no less real than what he himself is feeling, if different in scope and nature. Just because Yue can't understand what has grown between the Sun Guardian and his first candidate, doesn't mean it isn't real, and true, and like all bonds of emotion, potentially painful. Who is he to belittle it?

And moreover... if despite such affection Keroberos can look beyond himself, for once, and select another, just for the good of the Cards, who is Yue to remain blinded by his own sorrow and prejudice?

They are Guardians of the Cards. The Cards' well-being should be their one priority.

He closes his eyes a moment, pained by the realization that he is acting beneath his station. All his thoughts of rage and rebellion and contempt quiet down. He'll Judge impartially.

They face off, Yue luminescent and resplendent and utterly impassive, Sakura in a pink cape and a yellow bow tie with extremely long tails and pom-poms and her pink staff, the one the first Master of the Cards had made for her, shining with light in her clasped hands.

The girl's aura is bright to Yue's sight. She does indeed have the potential to be as powerful as _He_ was. But potential alone isn't enough to get her past the Judgment. Impartiality means not failing her without good reason, but also not letting her win if he isn't certain that she will be a good Mistress for the Cards.

Her inexperience counts against her. That, and her determination not to hurt Yukito in any way. All she can do is run, narrowly escaping the crystal shards Yue is flinging about.

The Moon Guardian isn't mellowed by her appeals to Yukito, nor slowed by the clear difficulty she has keeping up with his attacks. She has Power, and Fight, and Shot with her; she can easily fight if she chooses to. But she doesn't seem inclined to. What kind of Mistress wouldn't call on her Cards in such a bind?

At last she turns to the Cards she has collected and Yue is a tad unsettled at sensing that most of them are Sun Ruled.

However the silly child uses one of the very few he can turn against her. The Wood. A Moon Ruled one. He refrains from commenting on her stupidity. Does she know nothing of the Cards she wants to master?

Keroberos' panicked shout echoes as Yue turns the Card back on her and she is imprisoned in a net of vines.

Yue could – should – explain her mistakes, perhaps gloat a little, and go through with the spell that was designed as punishment should a candidate fail the Final Judgement: the spell that would make all the feelings everyone has for the person they love the most be forgotten.

It would probably be a blessing in disguise, for him, to forget... everything that was. Forget _Him_.

He can't muster the strength, however. And besides, there is still one other test to conduct.

He is stopped short when a bright blade of light shoots out of the vines, tearing them apart. Shocked, he sees that it is coming from the girl's wand, which is now glowing brighter and brighter, until they all have to turn their eyes away and shield them from its glare. A shower of little meteors is falling all around them and the wand morphs into Sakura's hands, from the original one to a pink shaft surmounted by a winged star.

The girl watches it in wonder and awe, but Yue is just beyond irritated. “No,” he growls. “Your Judgement is over, I shall not go over it again. There is one other who has the right to challenge me.”

Sakura blinks, feeling tears pool in her eyes at the harsh tone and what it implies, but does her best to stifle them as she nods. She bows respectfully to him and thanks him for the chance he gave her and the Moon Guardian feels all his irritation drain away into nothing. She is a very special girl.

He bows his head back, as if saluting a sparring partner at the end of a competition, and returns her to her friends.

Yue expects the last challenge to be even easier than the previous ones. No Moon Ruled Card will touch him without permission after all and the only Sun-Ruled attack Card in the little boy's possession is Sword. He doubts the child can pose a challenge to one of his skill, even with its help.

Moreover, the green-eyed boy looks completely lost, even as he clutches his Cards tightly to his chest.

“I don't understand,” says the child, sounding small and confused. “You are the Guardian who chooses who's to be the Master of the Cards? So... does that mean, you're the one who's supposed to know who's best for them?”

“Correct,” states Yue. “Now prepare yourself.”

The boy frowns in thought and Yue almost shoots out a crystal, annoyed that he is so distracted and doesn't appear to take the situation seriously.

But the child catches him off guard, turning huge, serious green eyes on him. “Do you think I should give them up?” he asks, and he is sad, and small, and lonely as he watches the Cards in his hands with true affection.

Yue raises an eyebrow, confused.

“I want the Cards to be happy,” elaborates the child softly, but firmly. He runs through them fondly. “They are my best friends... my family... I want them to be happy,” he reiterates, and is determined, and if he falters a little, he forges on nonetheless. “So... if you think there's someone better to take care of them, I'll... give them up.”

The Cards flare and Yue can sense dismay and sadness and hurt panic from the Moon Ruled and is about to snap at the ungrateful brat who is refusing such a gift when the child – this infuriatingly astounding boy-magician who refuses to be what Yue expects him to be – surprises him again with a genuine outburst: “Of course I don't want to lose you!”

Yue realizes in shock that he's answering the Cards – something that even _He_ very seldom could do.

“I never want to leave you. I love you!” Harry cries and his childish voice, so full of emotion, breaks Yue's heart a little at the same time that it makes him scowl in fury.

The boy doesn't know what he's talking about, has no business using that word, but he's so painfully earnest, so naively young, that Yue knows he's sincere and that, too, hurts all the more.

“But,” goes on the distressed child, oblivious to the Moon Guardian's internal struggle, “I'm just a kid. I want you to be safe and well and if I'm not good enough...”

“That is what Guardians are for,” Yue finds himself saying and though he is surprised at his own reaction, he is also somewhat resigned, and perhaps content, and all in all composed in front of how things are turning out. “We're not just defenders, protectors, or keepers. If you become the Master of the Cards, Keroberos and I will be there to watch over you...” he takes a deep breath, “...with you, beside you, to guard you and to guide you.”

Yue himself is vaguely surprised at the gentleness in his voice, so unlike his standard cold, aloof act; but there is a sense of joyful agreement from the Cards, and Yue doesn't know whether to be astounded or simply ruefully amused that the child seems to feel it as strongly as he does.

Harry firms his jaw, suddenly decided: “Then... I'll do it,” he yells softly. And then he blinks, and Yue is thrown off-kilter when the child asks innocently: “Anybody has an idea how to go about this?”

Well, if nothing else it's clear the child has a good relationship with the Cards, thinks Yue with a barely-there smile.

Said Cards are floating in a circle around the little boy now, almost dancing to a tune that is no longer familiar to Yue and he knows, he can't even turn the Moon Ruled against this boy-magician anymore, because they like him, and want him and really, Yue doesn't have too many objections anymore.

Case in point, The Watery throws her element in spinning circles around him, and The Freeze congeals them an instant later, effectively trapping him, and his half-hearted attempt at turning them back on Harry is met with resistance, proving that they have accepted the child as master.

He nods, and all the Cards – even those he has taken from the Li and Sakura – fly out, forming a protective layer around the boy, whose eyes are sparkling.

Yue nods again, this time to himself. It is alright.

This boy isn't trying to take _His_ place. He is not trying to usurp the special bond they – Yue - shared with _Him_. Whatever ends up happening... whatever their relationship will become... it'll be nothing like it used to be between Yue and... _Clow_. Of that Yue is sure.

And suddenly, this sounds like a good thing. They'll be going down an unexplored path, building something different. He can live with that.

He watches with half-perplexity and half-amusement as the Cards flare into their spirit form one by one, happily greeting the boy, who looks joyful and relieved and curious and absolutely mesmerized by the new ones that were in Sakura's and the Li's keeping beforehand.

It's fascinating to watch them interact. How he chats away at them, holding conversations that are mostly feelings of different intensity on the Cards' part but don't appear one-sided at all. How happily he treats them as if they were friends, rather than magical embodiments of confined natural forces and elements. It's amazing.

Maybe it's because Harry is still so young and genuine, but Yue is sure that even Clow didn't interact so much with his creations.

He blinks when he realizes that he's comparing this child to him and there's no bitterness in it. He can admit that Harry is nothing like Clow, but then, why is he continuously reminded of his first Master?

It's the smile, he realizes, the genuine affection and fondness in the smile, the determined spark in the eyes that say 'I will take care of you – all of you.' And the hint of mischievousness, too. There is a bit of a prankster in Harry, just like there was in Clow, Yue is sure of it.

The Moon Guardian blows out a sigh, letting the tension drain from him, and feels his choice settle inside him. He feels at peace.

"The Clow Cards have a new Master," Yue intones as they return to the others and he is surprised when Sakura, despite the tear-filled eyes, grabs the smaller boy in a big hug and congratulates him. He is even more surprised when he realizes, beyond any doubt, that she's sincere.

Keroberos greets Harry rubbing himself against him, playfully and sinuously, from the top of his balding hear to the tip of his long tail, making sure to tickle him until the child laughs out loud, but inside, he is torn.

On the one hand, he expected this: the green-eyed child really has a powerful connection to the Cards. He isn't altogether surprised that even the Moon Ruled had turned on Yue for him. On the other hand, he's come to love Sakura and it's hard to let go.

He says as much, gently, softly, and he can see that Sakura is bracing herself to be cheerful for his sake and is about to say something kind and sweet and just like her, but suddenly Harry's voice cuts through: “I don't see why you should be sad,” he says and looks honestly confused. “It's not like you're leaving, is it?”

They all look at him and only Yue has an inkling to what's about to be said, and he thinks it's rather funny that he's the one who can guess Harry's thought-processes so easily, when Keroberos has known him and observed him much longer.

“Well, I don't think Sakura's going to throw you out! Are you?” asks the child reasonably.

“What? No!” exclaims the girl, bewildered.

“There you have it,” is the smug comment and when the two look at Harry uncomprehendingly, the boy sighs impatiently: “Obviously, you're staying with Sakura! And I'm going to visit often, if you'll let me.” He smiles at Sakura and she grins back twice as brightly, almost clapping her hands in delight. “That way everybody's happy!”

“I should stay with you, though,” protests Kero, even as he thinks this is the best idea ever.

Harry shrugs. “Don't see why.”

“Well, to protect you and stuff.”

Yue rolls his eyes at the pathetic answer. 'And stuff' indeed!

Harry just smirks: “Nonsense. Yukito, too, is going to be living at his place anyway, isn't he?”

He turns to Yue, who hesitates only an instant before nodding.

“See? I'm going to be perfectly alright anyway. And I've got my Card-friends with me and everything!”

“If there's a threat, we'll move in with you, and no objections,” bargains Yue softly. “But if things are quiet, then I think Kero and I can just continue keeping an eye on you from afar.”

Harry beams brightly at them and Sakura shrieks in happiness and Kero looks dumbfounded and Yue feels like laughing.

He doesn't, of course. It would ruin his image. Still, if the Sun Guardian keeps looking at him as if expecting him to turn into someone else any minute, it might just be too much to him.

Sakura is improvising a little celebratory dance and the Li is reluctantly dragged into it, despite still sporting a rather dark frown.

Kero moves to join them, but stops and looks back at Harry over his shoulder: “You sure?”

“Course I am,” says Harry with an emphatic nod. “Besides,” he adds, and his smug tone makes Kero wary, “someone has to be there to protect Sakura. Otherwise Touya will drive us all up the wall.”

This time Yue does laugh, because even though he doesn't yet know of Kinomoto Touya's sister complex, Kero's look of horror is enough to break all his defences.

Everybody stares at him in amazement, bewitched by the crystalline, tinning, and most certainly unexpected sound.

The spell is broken when Keroberos, who alone can remember ever hearing Yue laugh before, throws his huge head back and lets his own loud, rumbling laugh join the Moon Guardian's.

And then three more joy-filled laughters are heard, because Yue's good mood is just too contagious for the children to resist.


	8. T for Troubles

Yue takes Harry home the night of the Final Judgment and his childish enthusiasm at flying under the stars explodes unstoppable in peals of joyous laughter that make even the aloof Moon Guardian grin. He's never had anyone to share his love of flying with before. He'll have to take his new Master out again, on the full moon maybe.

Harry certainly will ask, this is the most fun he's had in ages.

They land softly just out of the Dursleys' apartment block and instead of sliding to the ground, Harry grabs Yue's shoulders more tightly and looks up at him and his green eyes are very serious.

“Does Yukito know?” he asks.

“No,” Yue must admit.

Harry nods slightly. “You must tell him then. Or I will, if you want.”

Yue is uncomfortable with the idea, but he knows his new Master is right. Yukito needs to know. It is pointless to try and pretend that he's nothing more than a borrowed form, with no thoughts of emotions of his own, because Yukito is so much more and he has rights Yue cannot pretend not to recognize. Especially since his new Master counts him a friend.

The pale figure stands guard, struggling with his suddenly uncomfortable thoughts, as Harry calls on two of his newly-acquired Card-friends to help him slip in unnoticed after his nightly escapade.

The Silent and The Shadow materialize in the alley, one a tall slender woman wrapped in a dark cape with a high collar, the other a mysterious figure in a black cloak and hood. They are very different from most of the other Cards, except perhaps The Dream, and their company is so delightfully new to Harry that he cannot help smiling all the time.

Yue just watches over him until he's sure his Master has reached his bed and crashed, exhausted, and then he flies to Yukito's apartment, where he faces one of the most difficult conversations of his long life.

Surprisingly, Yukito takes it all rather well, which is to say, he panics only briefly when Yue's voice echoes in his mind and he soon stops shaking and doubting his own sanity, instead accepting his other self's soothing reassurances: _It's all right. I'm really here. You're not hearing things. My name is Yue._

In fact, it's almost as if he's known all along, on some level; and after a while, he wonderingly admits that he's dreamt of a winged one before, when the moon shines bright.

 _That would be me_ , says Yue, and he's absurdly pleased at how easy this is after all.

Yukito is wide-eyed in amazement, but he quickly gets the hang of talking mentally to his other self and makes room for Yue's existence in his perception of life with surprising good grace.

 _You've been here_ , he remarks pensively. _Always. Haven't you? As long as I've been alive..._ He nods slightly to himself and for the first time, Yue is treated to one of Yukito's blinding, warm smiles. _It's good to meet you, Yue._

And the Moon Guardian is struck speechless.

Still, despite his feeling a tad unsettled and out of control, Yue must count the conversation as a resounding success: Yukito definitely believes him and he doesn't seem too much bothered by the idea of sharing his existence with a magical creature. The only worry he feels is towards his best friend's possible reactions and his fear of rejection is so heart-wrenching that Yue wishes with all his might that he could promise to keep the other young man in the dark like Yukito so clearly desires.

There is no way his new Master will let that happen, though. Already he's talked about telling Touya everything first thing next morning. It's best that Yukito accepts the inevitable soon.

Yukito has to take some deep breaths to calm himself, but eventually manages. He doesn't want to discuss Touya anymore however and instead, he plies Yue with questions about him and magic and the Cards and what's been happening and how their connection works and what all they can do, until a rosy dawn peeks through his curtains.

Elsewhere, Kero has returned to his borrowed form right after Yue and Harry have departed and while Li takes Tomoyo home, the little flying plushie and Sakura sneak back into her bedroom, unaware that Touya has arrived home mere minutes before them and is merely pretending to sleep, just as he was pretending to sleep earlier as he watched the whole ordeal and grumbled to himself about how troublesome magic can be.

When all sounds die off in his sister's room, Touya opens his eyes with a sigh and rolls on his back, staring morosely at the ceiling.

He will have to find a way to confront all of them about tonight's events. He is reasonably sure that Harry will come to him on his own tomorrow, but if he doesn't, for one reason or another, he'll have to corner the silly child himself. One way or another, he'll have to have a chat with his best friend, too... and probably let Sakura know that he's aware of her adventures and of the presence of the stuffed lion that's suddenly become a permanent fixture in her life.

Yup, magic is troublesome.

As for Harry, he sleeps serene, and his dreams are full of colorful, smiling spirit-Cards.

All should be well for him after the Judgement, but alas, fate has a way of throwing the most unexpected sticks in life's wheels.

Far too soon for his liking, Harry is shocked out of his much needed rest by an event that in the last months has become rarer than a blue moon: Aunt Petunia waking him.

All three Dursleys have taken to ignore him so completely they only actually talk to him when they want to gloat about something they're doing or buying for Dudley and, naturally, not for him, so he's bewildered at the sudden attention he's receiving. Then they give him the horrifying news.

“We're going back to England, boy. Pack your stuff.”

Dumbfounded, Harry stares at his relatives bustling about to get things ready. Horror rises in him as his mind processes their words. Back to England... back to bullies and cupboards and little to no food and far too many chores, back to being treated like a disease for no reason... back to being miserable... and no more school and clubs and Card-friends and magic... no more Yue, or Kero, or Sakura... or Touya...

“NO!” he shouts, and the force of his denial makes the windows rattle.

Petunia is scared and corrals her precious Dudley away from the little freak; Vernon goes purple in the face, astounded that the worthless brat dares to express an opinion and mouth back to him.

“What did you say, boy?” he growls, livid, advancing threateningly on the wimpy brat. “You'll do as you're told, you ungrateful little freak, and just you thank your lucky star that I don't have the time to give you what you deserve...”

But there is a huge difference between the scared and lonely little boy he used to bully before Japan, and the Master of the Clow Cards.

The fat looming form of Vernon Dursley is no longer enough to intimidate Harry. The child jumps to his feet, fists balled at his sides and eyes flashing, and he shouts right back: “I won't! I refuse! I won't, I won't ever go back! Never!” and he's too young to understand it properly, but he's talking metaphorically as well.

He won't ever go back to being scared and lonely. Never again.

Vernon advances on him, arm raised to backhand him, furious, and Harry ducks with a cry and a Card jumps in his hand of its own volition.

The Power, he glimpses in the scroll at his bottom, and then he's shooting forward and grabbing Vernon as if he weighted nothing and throwing him into Dudley's bed, that crashes under the impact and slides backward with the force of it and hits the wall, dazing the beefy man.

Harry is already out and running down the stairs and into the street and muttering that he needs to tell Touya but he's so angry and frightened and tired still and confused that he hardly knows where he's running to and he feels like crying and screaming and raging and weeping and he's furious and hurt and scared and his head is pounding.

He doesn't even notice that The Windy, the messenger Card, has taken his order at face value and is darting off to find Touya, like a swift gust of wind, invisible and fast.

He runs, and runs, and runs, and is in Yukito's arms before he realizes the older boy has opened the door he was pounding onto and then Yue takes over to understand why his Master is so distressed, though in the new spirit of cooperation they have agreed upon last night, he doesn't shut Yukito out and lets him listen in as Harry pours the news out and breaks into tears.

The prospect of going back to England holds no appeal for the Moon Guardian, too many memories of Clow would haunt him. Yukito is saddened by the increased risk of losing his close friendship with Touya, and Yue knows Keroberos would already be wailing at the prospect of leaving Sakura if he knew. Most importantly, his Master is crying desperately and clearly does not want to go. This is an unmitigated disaster.

There is a knock at the door and Touya enters frowning; a yellow-coloured winged woman with blonde hair is swirling all around him, surrounding herself and him with waves of solid yellow wind.

In his wake, Sakura peeks in from the door edge, with plush-toy-Kero perched atop her head, both too curious to stay put or worse, go to school, after witnessing the distressed Card summoning Touya, who by their reckoning shouldn't have taken her existence so calmly at all.

There is a long silence after Harry has blurted out the whole tale again, broken only by his hiccuping sobs, slowly tapering off.

Yukito nudges Yue a little, and the Moon Guardian lets him take over again, just the time to make tea for everybody.

Touya watches in wonder the smooth transition. He knows Yuki had no idea of his other self's existence before last night, but their interacting is so natural, so spontaneous: there is no struggle, no hesitancy, no disorientation, one moment it's the entity he's always sensed inside his best friend who's looking at him, the next Yuki is there, smoothly, simply.

Yue catches his gaze from the observer's place within Yukito's mind, and he feels as if that Look is going through Yukito directly to him, questioning, worried, surprised, amused and knowing all at once.

He's startled to realize that Touya has known all along, has always seen him, even if he didn't know what he was seeing. He wonders why the other boy has kept his secret so easily.

Yukito is caught off guard by the exchange, recognizing the Look he's received so many times without having enough information to interpret it, and he, too, is now aware that Touya, somehow, knows. He is worried, hopeful, alive with anticipation and dread all at once. But he glances back at his best friend from the doorstep of his little kitchen and they nod silently to each other. Now is not the time.

They all end up huddled on Yukito's sofa, Harry held comfortingly between Touya and Yue, Yuki peeking out from the icy blue eyes, Keroberos in his true form sprawled on the carpet, his warmth as close as he can to the three on the sofa, Sakura atop him, hugging him for all he's worth, burying her head in his tawny fur.

“You shouldn't be made to go if you don't want to,” is the lion-looking Guardian's lofty opinion.

“But what can he do? He's just a child...” says Sakura, tears in her eyes. “If they want to take him away, he can't really stop them..."

“There has to be a way,” says Harry, pleading and determined at once. “There just has to!” and he turns to the person he trusts the most in this world.

Touya feels like banging his head on the wall.

The way Harry is looking at him, so hopefully, so trustingly, as if there is no doubt that Touya can make the world right with a snap of his fingers, is nothing short of unnerving. Even more so since Yukito, possibly influenced by his other self, is suddenly looking at him with the same expectant trust, as if waiting for him to make things all better, and so is Sakura, and kami help him, even the damn stuffed lion.

He sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Alright,” he says at length. “Alright.”

He gets up and stalks off, everybody hurrying after him, the two Guardians barely taking the time to turn into their borrowed forms, just in case.

They march straight into the Dursleys' apartment and Harry watches in wide-eyed amazement as Touya stares Vernon down without even saying anything. The burly man's initially loud insults and indignant beratings and shouted accusations of 'breaking and entering' taper off under the intensity and icy confidence of the dark-haired youth's piercing gaze and his rant dwindles down to something that sounds like 'mimble-wimble'.

Petunia is fidgeting and biting her lips nervously and the two Dursleys are reduced to darting their eyes nervously between Touya's scowl and Yue's freezing gaze out of Yukito's eyes before any of them breaches the silence.

“We would be more than willing to have Harry as our guest,” says Touya in a tone that is poles apart from the polite formality of the words.

“Indefinitely,” butts in Yukito with a polite smile that is just a touch feral.

“So as to allow him to complete his schooling while you return to your home country,” goes on Touya evenly.

Vernon splutters, veins throbbing in his temples: “You- wha- you... brat...”

“You're some of them, aren't you?” spits Petunia suddenly. “You're just like him.”

That is unexpected.

Touya and Yuki share a puzzled glance, not understanding. Harry, too, is lost. It is Sakura, peeking out from behind her big brother's back, that asks, politely: “Ah... wh-what do you mean, madam?”

“You're wizards!” Petunia spews, sounding as if she's uttering the world's foulest epithet. “You- you unnatural... magic...”

Harry draws in a shocked breath as the full scale of what she's saying hits him. “You knew?” he asks, dumbfounded. "You knew I'm a — a wizard?"

"Knew!" Petunia shrieks. "Knew! Of course we knew! How could you not be, my dratted sister being what she was?"

Harry flinches and Sakura grabs his hand comfortingly, but Petunia isn't done: “A witch indeed! I was the only one who saw her for what she was — a freak! But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family!"

Touya sighs as he hears the unclouded envy in the woman's tone. That explains a lot. It justifies nothing, however. Harry is but a child! She has no right to take her own shortcomings out on him.

He narrows his eyes and takes a step forth, trying to draw her attention to himself, but she's lost in her ranting, barely stopping to draw breath before going on. She must have been wanting to say all this for years.

"Then she met that Potter at school and they left and got married and had you, and of course I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as — as —abnormal — and then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with you!"

Harry pales and cries out and his voice is small and weak as he pleads: "Blown up? You told me they died in a car crash!"

Touya and Yuki exchange a dark glance, mentally cursing the dratted woman. That was no way to talk to a child about his lost parents.

“Well, they didn't!” the woman shrieks on. “They got themselves killed by some weirdo worse than them and then we couldn't even throw you out for fear that wacko'd find us! Protection – as if!”

“It's a load of old tosh!” roars her husband suddenly, and he's glaring at her as much as at the freaks invading his apartment. Petunia shrinks under his furious gaze and falls silent.

Vernon's fists are clenched as he rounds on Harry: “Now, you listen here, boy," he snarls. "We've always known there's something strange about you, probably nothing a good beating wouldn't have cured — and as for all this about your parents, well, they were weirdoes, no denying it, and the world's better off without them in my opinion — asked for all they got, getting mixed up with these wizarding types — just what I expected, always knew they'd come to a sticky end – and if their wacko murderer comes after you one day then perhaps the world will be better off without you too!"

In the ringing silence, it is clearly heard a faint “Oh, boy...” from Sakura's pocket.

Harry is shocked and hurt and breathing harshly. He feels like the weight of the world has just crushed on his shoulders.

Touya decides there and then that the last thing the kid needs is to hear more awful revelations all in one go and in clipped tones, he instructs his sister to take Harry and 'her toy' home.

Sakura nods, blinking her tears away, and gently leads the younger boy away by the hand, and halfway out she's already phoning Tomoyo, who will no doubt be able to help.

Touya and Yukito remain to patiently piece together the truth and try and work out a solution with forced calm.

Yue takes careful mental note of the unexpected threat to his Master – what little the Dursleys know of it – while Yukito does his best not to laugh in their face at the absurd way they stammer and quaver and are unable to utter words like 'magic' or 'wizard' without drama.

Touya is growing steadily annoyed with them and their attitude and their complete idiocy.

Petunia is at first steadfastly refusing to let Harry go. She doesn't want the little freak around her son, Lord no, but the letter that accompanied the boy was clear enough: as long as the brat is with them, they are safe from 'm-magic' because of something she reluctantly names 'blood wards'.

Yue has never used blood for his spellcasting nor seen it used, but he knows enough about the basics of magic to set her straight on a few points.

“Wards need an anchor, always,” he says coldly. “It can be an object, a talisman of paper, wood, cloth, or metal. It can be a place, or a person. Or it can be a feeling. But it is never absent, or the ward fails. I don't sense anything in any of you, so it's not a personal tethered ward. You don't have a talisman, do you?”

Petunia, puzzled and terrified, shakes her head in denial.

“If the ward was tied to the place, your house in England, it broke when you moved here.” The woman gasps in dismay. “If it was a feeling...” Yue twists Yukito's features in a sneer. “I somehow doubt you have ever bestowed any protective or caring feeling on your nephew. It's probably never worked at all.”

Petunia stares at him in horror. “We... we could have got rid of him?” she whispers.

It is too much for Touya, who jumps up and starts pacing, his fury and loathing strong enough that Yue almost feels his aura scalding him and has to retreat further inside Yukito, leaving his less magic-sensitive counterpart to deal with things.

Vernon's piggy eyes are narrowed in calculation, though. “So we can leave the brat at last?” he asks with barely concealed eagerness. “You'd really take that freak off our hands?”

It is Yukito who nods, somehow managing to maintain a semblance of serenity, though his usual big smile has vanished.

“Permanently?” presses Vernon, and upon receiving another nod, he brightens considerably: “Good riddance, says I.”

It shouldn't be as easy as that – and in truth, it isn't, but neither is it much difficult. Touya knows who to contact and they happen to be ready – they have been for nearly two years, as a matter of fact.

Harry's surprise is enormous when his teachers step forth and show all the evidence they have carefully collected – check-up results, transcription of telling conversations, the multiple episodes of barely concealed neglect, their own monitored and recorded efforts to keep him away from his relatives and make sure he was well cared for, as much as possible.

It takes a few tense days for everything to go through, and they are hard days in many ways.

Only Touya and Yue are serene through it all. And Yukito, after he grabs the first chance to ask his best friend how long he's known.

A grin, both sincere and mocking, touches Touya's mouth: “Since the day we met, Yuki. I could always sense your other self, even when his power was dormant. Now stop worrying about this.”

The younger ones however are all wound up and dispirited at the same time.

Li's announcement that he's going back to Hong Kong now that he's lost the chance of being the Master of the Clow Cards has Sakura in tears, crying that everybody's leaving her. The boy, too, doesn't seem too happy at the idea. Even Tomoyo is going through a somewhat rough patch, because her mother, who is President of a large toy corporation, must leave for an extended business trip and regrettably won't be able to return in time for her daughter's birthday come September, to the beautiful girl's sadness.

Harry for his part is torn between elated hope and despairing dread and he's struggling with what his aunt has let slip about his parents and he's having nightmares again, of the loving parents The Dream and The Illusion let him glimpse and of high-pitched laughter drenched with green light, too, and coupled with the anxious wait for his future to be declared, it's all too much.

He is so down that he doesn't even call on the Cards once, though the sisters The Big and The Little come out all on their own and put on a funny show for the children, changing the size of this and that, and the tall and slender blue woman and the tiny yellow little girl dressed like medieval princesses beam brightly when they tear a little laugh from the depressed kids before disappearing with an elaborate, funny bow.

Eventually however Touya brings back good news and it's much sooner than Harry feared.

With several teachers, all renowned as upstanding, competent and dedicated, supporting the steadfast opinion that Harry is better off without his relatives and with the Dursleys' sneering eagerness to get rid of him, the whole change of guardianship takes much less time than anyone could have guessed. The Dursleys' only have to delay their departure a week, the rest is all bureaucracy that in this days and age can be done easily over a distance and Touya assures Harry that he needs not worry, that he'll take care of everything himself.

And he does – patiently getting all the papers through, including a report he insists Petunia give about her sister's death at the hand of a terrorist, who's possibly still after Harry, and the Japanese government, despite evaluating such a possibility as 'low risk', agrees to seal the child's files for his protection. No-one can track him through the proceedings now.

Thus Harry becomes the ward of Tsukishiro Yukito and Kinomoto Touya, who share guardianship by undisputed general agreement, and when he sees it written in the official papers, his smile is blinding.


	9. O for Obstacles

Touya's and Sakura's dad, Kinomoto Fujitaka, is surprisingly serene with the unexpected addition to his family. He smiles sweetly as he welcomes Harry and tells Touya that he has the utmost confidence in his skill as a guardian, despite his young age.

“You're a wonderful brother to Sakura,” he says simply. “You'll be to little Harry too.” And he smiles again, thinking of how proud his caring, loving Nadeshiko would be of her eldest if she could see him now.

Touya half-smiles too, a little more knowingly, because he knows his mother's angelic ghost does see him, and she's told him already, in a brief visit, how happy she is at the way their life is turning out.

Fujitaka's innocent question about living arrangements sparks a bit of quarrelling however.

Yukito's flat, while cosy, is really too small to accommodate another person comfortably and Kero pounces on the chance to claim Harry should live with him. And Sakura, obviously. The Kinomoto have the place and it's really the most sensible solution.

Yue isn't thrilled, but it doesn't seem to be a big deal, until the little plush bear takes offence at his reluctance and starts complaining loudly, puffing up with indignation.

The Moon Guardian scowls ferociously when Kero whines that he's perfectly capable of taking care of Harry-kun on his own and doesn't need to justify himself to a 'grouchy jerk' like him; he sniffs back at the 'superficial food-obsessed plushie', making him glower almost instantly. The retort to the subsequent insulting remark is instinctual and draws an immediate reaction from the small winged teddy-bear.

Keroberos knows well how to push Yue's buttons, who even after two centuries sealed away still has the same temper, and the comebacks he receives are as smoothly delivered and as stinging as they used to be before Clow's death.

Sakura and Harry watch stunned as the unflappable, aloof Moon Guardian gets into a catfight with his boisterous and egocentric counterpart, proceeding seamlessly from flinging insults and mortifying anecdotes around to outright scuffling under their very eyes.

Neither notices the smug light in Keroberos' eyes: he has really missed mock-fighting with his fellow Guardian. He wasn't quite sure what to expect from Yue, after the dark cloud of angst that had been hanging over the Moon Guardian during their long wait, but the harsh coldness he'd been offered the night of the Judgement had really worried him. Yue had always been more reserved and quiet than him, but never so unfeeling.

It seems, however, that the Moon Guardian is mellowing out somewhat: he expresses more emotion and more warmth around Harry-kun than Keroberos remembers seeing from him since their infancy.

The Sun Guardian counts as a personal success that his counterpart is letting himself be goaded into an actual scuffle and he's overjoyed at the true reactions he's getting from Yue. Even if he could have done without the rehashing of a few particularly embarrassing episodes of their shared past.

It doesn't last long anyway, and in the end, Harry is laughing so much he has tears in his eyes, Sakura is blushing furiously and looking as if she has no idea how to react, and the two Guardians are hoarse, panting and severely rumpled, sitting weakly on the ground, Keroberos' fur hot against Yue's cool side.

Touya, lounging elegantly against the doorframe, is just grateful the haven't thought of flinging magic at each other.

Sourly, Yue admits that it would be the best solution for Harry to live at the Kinomoto house. And that he doesn't really doubt the Sun Guardian's skills. Much.

He doesn't voice the truth that he is scared to be left out, but to his dismay, Sakura does it for him, with the unerring and quite frankly frightening empathy that is her greatest strength. How the girl could be so naive, clumsy, and clueless, and still have such accurate flashes of inspiration at times is a mystery.

Yue retreats instantly behind Yukito's shielding presence, but he doesn't truly have the time to be embarrassed or panic before the matter is settled unexpectedly.

“Then perhaps you should all move in with us,” says Touya with nonchalance and when everybody stares at him he shrugs gracefully: “Yuki and I can share my room and the old attic can easily be converted into a proper bedroom with a bit of work.”

“I could stay there!” exclaims Harry, hope rising in his eyes.

“Yes,” says Touya promptly, ignoring how Yue is glaring at him from Yukito's eyes. “That way we can make it the way you want, colours and furnitures and whatnot.”

Harry's eyes grow huge: “I get to choose?” he breathes reverently, as if the mere idea is overwhelming.

Yukito's eyes clear at his obvious joy and Touya nods to signal that he understands Yue's agreement.

The matter is soon breached with Fujitaka, who has retreated to his study to prepare the seminar he is about to hold at Towa University, and he smiles happily at his children – all four of them. He has hardly missed how Yukito has wormed his way into his son's heart, and to a lesser but all the same very real extent, his daughter's. It has been a while now since he has started thinking of the pale-haired youth as a son as well. And little Harry – well. It is simply natural for the kind and caring man to include him.

“That sounds like a splendid idea,” he says happily.

Sakura claps her hand excitedly: “It will be so much fun! Can I help you choose the furniture, Harry-kun?”

Harry beams so much it's almost funny.

“I hope you'll all help!” he cries – and he means it. Not only his new family, but all his Cards-friends too. Then again, in his mind and heart they're all a part of a big family.

Their enthusiasm is dampened when an unexpected problem arises.

They run up to the attic that Touya has secretly already cleaned out and Harry calls on The Create, hoping the imaginative Card can help them try out different combinations of furnishing, but it doesn't respond to his summons.

He tries again, frowning, and all fall silent around him, perplexed. Nothing's happening. It's like he's lost the connection to The Create entirely.

He almost panics, especially when he tries a couple others – The Watery and The Glow, whom he's played with countless times – and neither so much as twitch in reaction. But then he reaches The Twin and suddenly the tingle of magic that allows him to feel what the Card is 'saying' is there once more.

He frowns and shuffles through the Cards more carefully, trying to puzzle things out, and in the meanwhile the others are discussing things all around him.

Keroberos is fluttering frantically, yelling his theories in his high, plushie voice, and is being shot down by Yue's deadpan comments. The Moon Guardian has transformed completely and his huge unfurled wings make the room seem too little for him.

Touya is frowning and focusing his power like he seldom tries to do, in the hope of 'seeing' what might be wrong.

Sakura has a sudden idea and with a loud yell she jumps up. She blushes when all turn to frown at her, and says in a much more subdued tone: “Ah... will you... need this, perhaps, Harry-kun?”

She is holding out the pendant she wears around her neck, a lovely golden key whose head is a bright pink circle encasing a five-point star, little small wings at its sides and a ruby red tiny gem under it.

“It's the Key which hides power of the Dark!” she explains. “I received it with the Book of the Seal, when everything started. It is what helped me capture the Cards...”

“No,” interjects Keroberos, suddenly in his true form, “it's not the same.”

The great armoured lion is frowning and turns pointedly to Yue, who informs them quietly: “It changed during Sakura's Judgement.”

“And you didn't think to tell me?” shouts the Sun Guardian indignantly, but Yue just shrugs. Keroberos was there. He might have _noticed_ , if he'd but paid attention.

Harry takes the pendant that Sakura is letting slip through her hand and turns it over and over, feeling for it.

“No,” he says at last. “I... thank you for the offer, Sakura-nee-chan, but I... can't. This Key... it feels like you, Sakura-nee-chan. It's... yours, I don't know how to explain, but it's like it was meant for you, and you alone.”

“Of course,” murmurs Yue frowning. “Sakura's magic is very different from... Clow's.”

Touya and Harry both notice how hard it is for him to say that particular name, but neither says anything. This isn't the time.

Kero is as oblivious as only he can be: “Ah, yes. That makes sense... their power aren't rooted in the same elements. Clow's power was of the Dark... and Sakura's...?” he trails off, inquisitive.

“The Stars, I believe,” says Yue simply.

Kero grins, and in his true form, it is rather formidable: “Quite appropriate.”

“But why can't I use the Cards?” asks Harry in a small voice.

“Well, at this point, it's obvious,” comments Touya pensively. “If Sakura has a different power than Clow, it stands to reason that you would have too.”

“I've used Clow's power before!” protests Harry, and then he adds uncertainly: “Haven't I?”

“You have,” states Yue, who now has a clearer idea of the situation, “but now the Cards have a new Master. You must turn them from their old form to a new incarnation, more suited to your own power.”

Harry looks up at him with huge eyes: “I don't even know what my power _is_ ,” he complains feebly.

Yue shrugs, which is a fascinating effect because the movement ripples gracefully down his white wings, and carefully avoids Keroberos' penetrating gaze. He hopes the Sun Guardian will not blurt out the worry that has suddenly arisen in him – that if his Master can't dip into his own power enough to sustain them... he'll die. The Cards will too, eventually, but Yue'll go first. The Moon cannot make its own light, it is dependent on that of the sun to shine, and Yue, whose power mimics it, is dependent on his Master's power for strength. If his true form becomes too great for his Master's magic to support him, he'll vanish into nothingness. And Yukito with him.

It is too soon to worry however, this fear might come to nothing after all, if his Master finds enough power within himself, and if he doesn't, then there's nothing he can do anyway, so it's unnecessary to tell him. It would only pain him. Hopefully Keroberos realizes this.

Sakura is contemplating her pendant.

“So... this Key...”

“You'll have to figure out how to use it, monster,” interjects Touya, feigning indifference.

“I'm not a monster!” she rebukes automatically, but then she grows thoughtful again. “I'm no longer hunting the Cards though. I... I don't need it anymore, do I?”

“There are other forms of magic,” points out Yue kindly and her green eyes grow huge at the idea.

“That's all very well and good, but it doesn’t help Harry,” grumbles Kero, narrowing his eyes at his fellow Guardian. He'll have to corner him about the horrible suspicion that has awakened in him. If they lose Yue... no, he can't even think on it.

“I... it's like there's something preventing me from reaching the Cards,” Harry says desolate. “Not all of them, though.”

He shuffles through the deck and stops at The Flower.

With the naturalness he'd grown to expect, a young lady in a big and long flowing pink dress, white corkscrew pigtails and a lot of pink flower jewellery materializes in the middle of the room. With a wink at Harry, she launches into a little dance and suddenly there is a flurry of flowers perfuming the room, cherry blossoms and peach blossoms and lilies, and sunflowers by the window, and fragrant moonflowers peeking out here and there.

Harry smiles at her, but his relief is short, because after bowing at him she vanishes and he cries out: “It's gone! The connection! I can't sense her anymore!”

“That's odd,” frowns Touya. “So you can't feel any Card now?”

Harry concentrates: “I can sense those I don't know yet,” he says slowly. “None of those I've played with before.”

“You are using up the remnants of Clow's power,” realizes Yue. “Thus you can call forth the ones you never have before, but quite likely, only once.”

“You mean after that I won't be able to feel them or play with them anymore?” cries Harry alarmed, nay, frightened. It is unthinkable!

“Unless you find your own power...” Yue looks at him solemnly, and refuses to voice the rest of it – that he will disappear if that happens and Yukito with him.

Harry whimpers and shakes his head over and over in denial, and Sakura protests that there must be a way, and Kero is strangely silent.

“I know it will be all right!” says Sakura with a forceful smile, grabbing Harry's hand.

The child looks at her, green eyes staring deeply into green eyes, and he feels reassured. It's like a charm, her cheerfulness. A good-luck charm.

He fishes for The Create again and tries once more to summon it, and this time, he closes his eyes and focus as best he can, looking inside himself the way Isao-shishou is patiently trying to teach him and the others in kendo class to do.

It's hard, but he's stubborn.

He breathes softly, as controlled as an eight-years-old can manage to be, and doesn't give up when nothing happens, but simply continues, searching, seeking, Sakura-nee-chan's hand still clasped in his.

He keeps his eyes tightly closed and he gasps softly when a pair of hand descend on his shoulders, steadying and comforting. Touya.

He continues to breathe with a regular rhythm and finally – there! He feels _something._

It's coming from his left, from where Sakura-nee-chan is standing, quiet and patient, and it's like a sky at night, with small bright stars, small, but ever-shining with their own brilliant light and he knows it's Sakura's magic.

Now that he has something to compare what he's looking for to, it's easier to search. Kero and Yue are like dancing globes of flames to his mind's eyes, off to the right, a warm orange one that glows on its own for the Sun and a freezing silvery one at its side, reflecting light like a mirror or a waterpond, or the Moon. And behind him, strength, not luminous nor showy but quiet, steady, subtle, constant. A magic that is always there, whether it is noticed or not, and sees everything that happens, and takes care of everyone. Just like Touya.

Harry watches in wonder the magic of his loved ones, admiring, but he starts to grow worried: there is no magic that he can see where his should be. No light of Stars, or Moon, or Sun, or even the dull glow of Planets Touya's magic resembles. Nothingness... that's what he can see.

He bits his lip, on the verge of tears, wondering if perhaps he isn't magical after all, but if he isn't, then how did he forge such a connection with his Card-friends in the first place? A connection that is lost now, but he can still remember well...

And just like that, he can _see_ it, too, little streaks of feeble light, like a meteor shower all around him, and in him, through him – and oh!

Suddenly everything makes sense.

He can't see his own magic, because it isn't of the Light: it is not of a celestial body, but of the space in between everything. Of the Dark that was there before every beginning and will be there after every end, like the old tales say: of the shadows that surround the brightness, and define it, shape it, allow the eyes to catch it, though Harry doesn't have the words to say this, even if he _knows_ , feels that it is right. The shapeless magic that can support anything and smother anything with equal ease – the magic that matches the original creation of the Cards almost perfectly, except that it isn't fading, but strong and growing and encompassing. And it is all around him, and in him, like velvety blackness, and Harry doesn't understand, not really, but at the same time, he knows, instinctually, acceptingly.

He calls for The Create once more, uncomprehendingly but aware.

He encounters resistance and he's loath to force the issue, but he also feels encouragement from the Cards – all the Cards – and he refuses to let them down.

It takes an amazing amount of effort to push his will through, but when he does, it's like a dam has broken and power rushes through him and into the waiting Card, which glows so bright it almost hurts his eyes even through his lids. He's yelling words he doesn't even know he knows and suddenly, a Circle flares brightly into existence, silently exploding from him and etching lines of light into the floor in a wide radius of which Harry is the centre.

The Card changes, the deep red on its back blending into a beautiful, emerald green – the green of his eyes. The gold of the symbol on it shines brightly in contrast and Harry wonders at its design: interlocking stars, each with a different number of points, form four to nine, concentric and superimposed to form a complex, supporting web.

He's awfully tired afterwards but the triumphant satisfaction in his smile reassures his odd family and he sinks gratefully into Yue's arms, knowing that it might take time, but all will be well.

 


	10. R for Revelations

As he drifts lazily on a gentle breeze that carries a hint of rain, Yue finds himself wondering: when was the last time life had felt this good?

The full moon is shining above him, huge and beautiful. Stretching his wings wide under its silver glow feels wondrous.

Peals of laughter come from a little afar to his right and he glances over at his Master and their little family, enjoying the moonlight as well.

Harry has been steadily transforming the Cards, ever since the night he first evoked his own Circle, instead of Clow's. Touya is pacing him attentively, only letting him do one at a time, and demanding he takes two or three days off to rest every time he does.

He also insists that Harry must delay calling up the few he still hasn't fully connected to, spreading their use and later transformation over time as much as possible.

“And leave the attack Cards last,” he says seriously. “That way if you're in a pinch you can use up the last of the magic Clow embedded in his Cards and conserve your own, not to mention you'll be quicker than if you have to change the Card before using it.”

Harry looks like he doesn't understand the strategy or the need for it, but he does as Touya wants anyway.

Yue is grateful, because the constant draw on his own reserves is somewhat lessened this way.

He wonders, though, if Touya has 'seen' anything, to be so worried. Hopefully it's just another version of his 'sister complex', like Yukito claims, because if it isn't...

His Master's magic is slowly growing, but too little still to ensure the Moon Guardian's survival if it were to be expended all at once.

If they manage to avoid using it unnecessarily and take time to let Harry's reserves replenish every so often, they shouldn't have to face the problem. With any luck, his Master will never know the danger his Guardian is in. But if something forces their hand...

Yue knows that Keroberos is worried sick about it. The marked increase in the amount of time he spends playing videogames and the red-rimmed eyes he gets from it are a clear signal. Neither Guardian mentions anything to Harry however. He already has enough to worry about, after all, with how the drain on his magic is making him vulnerable to nightmares.

Yukito and Touya both know that he was prone to having them before, but now, they seem worse, much worse, and he is reluctant to discuss them. By unspoken agreement, it is Yukito who coaxes him on this point, and even Yue gives them privacy during those conversations. The kind-hearted young man is, after all, the best suited to help the child with this. Yet Yukito is sure that Harry isn't sharing the worst of it, not even with him.

Such worries cannot interfere with the joy of this night, however, and Yue puts them from his mind quite firmly.

Tonight, Harry has changed The Fly and the Moon Guardian isn't surprised that it isn't as draining as usual. Between the Moon bolstering his own energy and the child's innocent delight in streaking through the air, which strengthens him through adrenaline and endorphins, everything is going more smoothly than usual and they can truly enjoy themselves.

Harry will probably crash later, and Yukito in the back of Yue's mind frets about the likelihood of another nightmare, but Yue mutes the worry, revelling instead in the freedom of flight. Besides, tomorrow's Sunday and they'll all be able to sleep in.

Yue twirls in the moonlight and feels a laugh bubble up inside him. It is out of character for him, but it is happening more and more often.

Like the Moon he is tied to, he tends to reflect the light – the emotions – that are bestowed upon him and Harry's childishness is naturally influencing him. The innumerable scuffles Kero is drawing him in over the silliest pretexts are proof enough. As is his growing delight in simple things like the Moon's scattered reflexes on water or a race above the rooftops, wind rushing through his beautiful hair.

It is a little disconcerting, but he doesn't mind too much.

A squeal catches his attention and he slows down, floating gently as he watches the kids with secret amusement. And yes, he's counting Keroberos amongst the children.

The huge lion-like creature is showing off in the air, letting the moonlight sparkle off the blood-red rubies of his armour. What might have been an awe-inspiring figure however is completely ruined by the pink-and-white-clad girl straddling his back, a hand firmly clamped on the little round hat with pink pom-poms Tomoyo has talked her into wearing, for fear that the wind might steal it.

After Harry was able to describe her magic to her – of the Stars, just like Yue had guessed – Sakura had little trouble modifying the incantation to release the power of her staff from the Key. Just like Yue remembers from the Judgement, it is now a pink shaft topped by an encircled, five-points winged star above a little ruby red gem.

Sakura can call it forth with ease and when she wields it, it's like her power is swirling all around her. However, that does not mean she knows what to do with it, now that she doesn't have access to the Cards.

She'll learn, eventually, but in the meanwhile, if she wants to join them in their nightly fun-filled flights, Kero has to let her ride him.

They seem to be having fun together, anyway.

Even as Sakura shrieks at the speed of his turns, that makes her loose the hat after all, and then yells in fright when Kero dive-bombs the little piece of white cloth floating gently down, racing Harry who beats him to the punch, catching the hat with a triumphant squeal.

The green-eyed boy is fluttering about, walking on a cloud both literally and metaphorically.

The changed The Fly has sprouted beautiful emerald wings from his small back, soft and feathery and glossy in the moonlight, and he's flying around like he was born for it, his green eyes sparkling with sheer joy. Not even Yue and Kero match his confidence and grace in the air.

Between his messy black hair, the evocative flapping wings and his mischievous grin, he looks like a fae.

Tomoyo, who is happily filming everything from a nearby rooftop, certainly thinks so. She'll have to enlist Sakura's help to convince him to wear the wonderful costume she's thought up just for him, next time they go out like this. She daydreams a little of a matching costume for Sakura, a gorgeous, sweet smile on her lovely face, as she films on the misadventures of her hat-turned-ball-to-play-catch.

An impromptu game of tag instigated by a mock-annoyed Sakura takes the three fliers to brush near Yue and the Moon Guardian lets the feeling of his Master's unguarded power wash over him.

It is strange, how similar to Clow's it is. Magic of the Dark... thrumming with secret energy, overwhelmingly strong, and cooler even than his own Moon magic. He reflects that perhaps that was why his Master was able to form such a strong connection to the Clow Cards, especially his Moon Ruled ones, despite lacking knowledge and experience, not to mention the Sealing Key.

The smell of rain grows heavy in the nightly air and Yue knows that they will soon have to turn in. Already fast clouds are gathering, intercepting errand beams of silver light. He sighs, turning around with a soft rush of feathers. He doesn't want this magical moment to end.

He catches sight of Touya standing next to Tomoyo. His pose is casual, relaxed, but Yukito knows him well enough that through his eyes, Yue can see how he is keeping a sharp eye on his younger siblings.

Yue contemplates an idea for a moment and he feels Yukito's mischievous encouragement. His other self is all for it.

He dives, straight for the dark-haired young man, who doesn't pay any attention to his soft landing behind him, until Yue's arms encircle him from the back.

Before he can protest, Yue kicks off softly and they are airborne.

There is a moment of stunning, as Yue's breath catch at the rush of sensations Yukito is inadvertently pouring on him. He is careful not to react to them overly much. For a long while now the two young men have walked the delicate line between friendship and more: Yue doesn't want to risk influencing them one way or another. He has no right.

The Moon Guardian stills, his wings beating slowly to the rhythm of their synchronized hearts, and waits.

And Touya relaxes into his embrace.

It is strange, this relationship they have.

Yue is well aware that it is primarily Yukito's feelings that are dictating its terms. His other self might be scared to admit anything, but he knows himself well enough to understand what the taller young man means to him.

Yue wants nothing to do with that. He refuses to get his heart entangled again. One Clow Reed is enough for all of eternity, thank you very much. He only tolerates some closeness out of respect for Yukito's feelings and choices.

Yet Yue finds himself turning to Touya more and more often for the kind of support and comfort his Master is still too young to provide. The quiet, unassuming friendship is a dream come true. It allows them, now, to fly together, and it feels good.

He is also very aware that it is a blessing that they've come to this – that there is no jealousy nor animosity, that he doesn't resent Yukito, nor Yukito him, as might have been – and it's Touya's doing.

Gratitude is too weak a word to describe what they owe to their silent best friend.

The air grows heavy with humidity. Slow, huge drops plop from the cloudy sky around them.

They barely make it back home before it starts pouring in earnest and Sakura talks Tomoyo into spending the night.

Yue folds away, letting Yukito take over, and it's the bespectacled young man who urges the yawning children – and one irritable plush toy – to bed and then steps next to Touya, who is frowning thoughtfully at the clouds.

“Something wrong?” he asks with his engaging smile.

Touya, as always, is serious. “It's not ordinary rain.”

“Huh?”

“Never mind.”

But they do mind – they have to, when it goes on for days and it shows no sign of stopping.

People are starting to notice, to wonder. 'I hear it's raining only on Tomoeda City' – 'I wonder if this is something supernatural' – 'This rain isn't normal rain' - the comments are coming in thick and fast.

Li, who is delaying his return to Hong Kong for some reason only Tomoyo seems to comprehend, is the first to mention the possibility of a magical intervention.

“But I don't feel anything like that at all!” protests Sakura while she pours the tea for everybody who has gathered in the Kinomoto kitchen. “Do you?”

“Maybe it's just that you don't realize it... perhaps the culprit has much more power than any of us,” is Li's gloomy retort.

Sakura clenches her fists, looking determined: “We have to check it out!” she cries, and Li nods furiously in agreement.

The light of adventure is dawning in Harry's eyes and Tomoyo clasps her hands under her chin with a lovely smile, talking about dark yellow rain capes and the need for gloves, pink for Sakura, green for Harry.

Touya interrupts them, scowling: “You have to stay as far away from it as you can!”

“Big Brother!” protests Sakura, but his furious gaze silence her.

“Maybe we can do both?” pipes up Harry hopefully. Touya turns his glare on him and he goes on quickly: “Here me out – I could send a Card to scout it! That way we check it out but without getting close to it!”

Touya gives him a considering look. “Alright.”

“The Cloud and The Rain still have to be changed,” says Harry excitedly. “They'd be perfect...”

“You'll do it tonight,” agrees Touya. “From here,” he adds, glaring to his sister and the Li before they can suggest a 'spot with a better view' or something, that'll up the risks.

“Oh, but I had already imagined a wonderful costume...” sighs Tomoyo. “And then I wanted to film Sakura on tape!”

Everybody tactfully takes a sip of their tea to avoid commenting.

Touya leaves for his latest part-time job, as shop assistant at a music store, and Tomoyo goes home to work on the cape costumes, just in case.

Sakura broods about the strict orders to remain home she's received. “He's right,” she moans, her hands fisted together over her knees and her head bowed. “I'm useless. Without the Clow Cards I can't do any magic to protect myself, and the Key isn't any use to me...”

“Clow made the cards so that he could do certain magics easier, but they weren't the extent of his magical ability," says Yue from where Yukito is helping Harry with some maths homework. “After all, everybody can do a certain amount of magic, it's just a matter of following the ancient rules. On the other hand, there are only a few magicians in the world who can make entirely new magic. You are one of those magicians, never doubt it – but you lack the knowledge and more importantly the confidence to manage.”

Sakura's eyes fill with tears at what she perceives as a reproach, but Yue isn't done: “You should learn other forms of magic, perhaps, until you figure out how to do your own,” he says, before he lets Yukito call Harry's attention back to the maths problems he's supposed to solve.

The girl nods, a little uncertainly, but the cheerful smile that is so uniquely her is missing.

And Li makes a shocking offer.

“The Li clan is famous in China for its magic,” he says haughtily, not looking at her. He ignores Kero's muttered grumblings about _infamy_ rather than fame. “I could teach you some spells.”

Sakura watches him wide-eyed and open-mouthed. To say that she's surprised is an understatement.

Li goes red in the face and turns even more from her, muttering rigidly: “If you want. I don't care if you don't.”

“Li-kun...” wonders Sakura with a soft smile. “Thank you!”

“And what price are you going to exact, I'd like to know?” grumbles Keroberos with hostility.

“Kero-chan, there is no need to be so rude!...” yelps Sakura.

“No Li has ever done anything out of the goodness of their little black hearts!” retorts the Sun Guardian.

“That's not true!” exclaims Sakura earnestly. She turns to Li, hands clasped before her heart: “You helped me so much when we were catching the cards, Li-kun!”

“He's still a Li,” whines Keroberos sullenly.

“Then call me Syaoran, if it'll make you feel better,” is the astounding offer.

For the shock, Kero falls from where he's hovering and hits the table with a dull _thud_.

The Chinese boy is looking at Sakura askance.

“Syaoran...” she smiles, and nods happily. “But you must call me Sakura.”

“Yue! Say something!” yelps Keroberos.

Yukito shrugs: “I don't think it's a good idea to hear out loud what my other self's thinking right now,” he says with a big grin. “Especially since I approve of Syaoran's generous idea.”

Harry giggles.

Sakura and Syaoran work together the whole afternoon. The boy is teaching her how to use his elemental talismans to simulate the effects of the Clow Cards, or at least, those tied to the elements. He is able to use fire, water, wind and lightning based spells with short trigger phrases and it would be a definitely useful talent for Sakura to share.

The girl has seen him charge with his magic the rectangular pieces of cloth or paper inscribed with ideograms countless times, but that doesn't seem to be helping her, unfortunately. She finds it difficult to evoke any kind of effect and even if the few times she manages something, her staff enhances her spells considerably, she's not confident enough to obtain results consistently.

It doesn't help that they have very different instinctual affinities. Syaoran's most trusted element is lightning, followed by fire, but both are perhaps too aggressive for Sakura to dominate. She is naturally more inclined towards the gentler wood and wind, of which he has but few talismans.

Syaoran is surprisingly patient, though, and doesn't get upset with her, eve when his eager but clumsy student loses control of a fire spell and The Wave has to be hastily changed by a hilariously laughing Harry, in an attempt to put out the dozen little fires Sakura has managed to burst into existence all over the place.

As a consequence, even though Harry doesn't look too worse for wear, Yukito declares that the scouting mission can wait one day and by the set line of his eyebrows, the children know he will not budge on this point.

He is worried more than he lets on about Harry's nightmares. He knows that while his lost parents are part of what troubles him, there is something more to it that Harry doesn't share even with him. He does not want to do anything to risk an increase of the already too frequent episodes.

The next day, Sakura and Harry walk home together from school; now that Harry doesn't need too many clubs anymore, he's dropped everything except track running, which is made too interesting by the cooing delight of the changed The Dash, so Tomoyo has remained for choir club alone and the two former Cardcaptors are on their own until they get home.

Their brightly coloured umbrellas are the only cheerful note in the greyness and humidity of the atmosphere this strange rain has thrown over Tomoeda like a heavy blanket.

Sakura is chatting happily about a transfer student in her class. “He seems like a very nice guy and he's ever so polite! He thought I was worried because of this strange rain... he gave me a lovely flower that he picked in his garden, you know? And he complimented my smile... He is really rather sweet. It's the strangest thing... I feel like I've met him somewhere... and he says it's the same for him. But how is this possible? Still, Eriol-kun is so cute!”

Harry wisely says nothing to this. Interaction with his classmates has already taught him that girls are strange – and if it hadn't, Tomoyo-chan's obsession with fashionable costumes and filming Sakura would be proof enough. Sakura-nee-chan might be less weird than most girls, but when she goes off on 'cuteness', Harry has learned to stay still and quiet and let it pass.

He amuses himself thinking of the other, older, transfer student recently arrived from England to his big brothers' class. He thinks her name is Akizuki. Touya has been complaining non-stop about the – in his words – completely irritating annoyance that apparently has the bad habit of launching herself at him every chance she gets. Surprisingly, even ever-welcoming Yukito doesn't seem to like her overly much.

The two are climbing the staircase in the Penguin King Park when suddenly, an unexpected whirlwind appears over their heads, spiralling down from the dark clouds.

They step closer to each other, uncertain and slightly frightened, and watch tensely as the windstorm turns into a dark spiral of water. Then a shapeless head is rushing towards them from the heart of the whirlwind, a serpent-like body of water that aims straight at Sakura with ferocity, slamming into the ground with a resounding splash.

With a sharp cry, they dive aside to avoid the rushing water, getting separated in the process, their umbrellas tumbling away desolately, forgotten.

The column of water separates brusquely in smaller ones that spear the ground with vicious force, bearing down on the girl, intent on crushing her. Sakura is squealing loudly in dismay and running for all that she's worth, trying her best to avoid the pressing attacks.

Harry has rolled behind a bush and discards his backpack impatiently, scared of the vicious water-thingie and frantic to help his adoptive sister.

He realizes now Touya's point about strategy, as he frenziedly rummages for some of the very few Cards he has never called out yet. He finds one within seconds and he throws it in the air without even looking at which it is, shouting: “Protect Sakura! Help her!”

Crackling, blue-white energy explodes and forms a magnificent, large white wolf that takes off at a run. Harry's breath catches in admiration and he gazes at the Thunder Beast for a long moment, but then he sees a water spike very nearly hitting Sakura and he's jolted into action.

Diving behind a tree, he closes his eyes and starts taking deep breaths to call up his magic. He needs something that can counter water, and he needs to conserve his strength as much as possible in case this attack is just the prelude to something worse and most of all, he needs to be fast. He definitely needs all his concentration.

He knows he can call up The Fiery once, because he's never used it yet, but then if he wants to avails himself of it longer he'll have to change it and be drained. It's only with the Cards he is the most in tune with that he can avoid falling asleep soon after using them. Unfortunately, he can't think of a Card he's already transformed that could be decisive in this situation.

He's worried about Sakura, and that makes it harder to focus, but he shouldn't be. For all her lovely clumsiness and adorable awkwardness, she is far from helpless.

A blade of light tears the air as she transforms her Key into her wand and readies herself for a magical fight.

She doesn't dare call up fire after she lost control of it yesterday, and the only other talisman Syaoran gave her is lightning: not the best choice against water, but it is fortunate that the Card Harry has sent to her is The Thunder and can enhance and strengthen her dawning magic. Besides, The Thunder was one of her early offensive Cards, back when she was a Cardcaptor. They have fought together before and know each other well.

The huge, striking wolf summons a bolt of lightning without any need for instructions and holds it ready, waiting for her magic to direct the attack. She whips out the dark yellow cloth and slaps it on the ruby red gem of her staff, like she's practised with her friend, calling up the familiar feeling of her magic.

The water hammers at her before she's ready to invoke the element she's chosen and she doesn't have time to sidestep it. She's drenched and trapped and she can't breathe and it hurts and when she thinks that her little brother might be experiencing the same, something snaps in her.

A shield bursts forth from her, made of pure magic, spherical and invisible except for its effects, and repels the water around her, letting her breathe, and move, and counter-attack.

Harry, who is still hidden, watches for a moment in awe as she evokes the element of Lightning and The Thunder launches itself on the zigzagging path her spell creates, power crackling over his spiky fur.

When it collides with the water column raised to squash it and the amazing energies explode in a spectacular clash, he shakes himself out of his stupor and goes back to his self-appointed task of transforming and using The Fiery.

But he's distracted.

Ever since the night he's first changed a Clow Card into a Harry Card, he's practised sensing magic around him. It's something useful, but more than that, it's something special, and fascinating, and beautiful.

Now it is almost second nature for him to cast about for the pinpoints of light or waves of darkness that represent magic, even as he tries to concentrate on something else.

Sakura is as bright as a Star, as usual, and The Thunder is blindingly spectacular all around her, zigzagging streaks of glaring lightness. His own magic is wrappingly comforting as it seeks out the fiery streak it wants to coax under its rule.

But it is the wave of magic from above them and behind the attacking water that takes his breath away.

It is familiar, yet for a moment he cannot imagine why. It is not young and vibrant like Sakura's, nor cold but dazzling as Yue's or raw and bold like Kero's, nor is it elemental and direct like Syaoran's, or strong and discreet like Touya's.

It is... powerful, thrumming, strong and cool. Magic of the Dark...

...Magic like his own.


	11. H for Hurdles

Harry doesn't have time to puzzle over the strange source of magic he's feeling.

Sakura's cry jolts him back into action and his own Circle of interlocking stars explodes under his feet as he throws his power at The Fiery, changing it into an emerald-backed Card.

Quickly, he instructs it to defeat the water, refusing to acknowledge how tired he already is, and it shoots forth like a raging fire just as Sakura decides that she has no choice but to risk calling on a flame.

Her spell and the Card mix and mingle and urge each other on and before they know it, the water is vanishing under their erupting force.

Relived, Harry runs to the huge wolf-like creature that is still buzzing with electricity and sinks his hands in the oddly tinkling fur, thanking The Thunder for his precious help. To his surprise, the Card changes smoothly, its back blending from red to emerald and Clow's symbol morphing into Harry's while the lightning creature returns to that form. He doesn't even feel any additional drain, despite this being the second Card he changes in a row.

Sakura is panting harshly but also smiling. They hug each other briefly and then collapse where they are in the middle of the park, weak-kneed with relief. Harry lets his head drop on Sakura's shoulder as the girl makes an effort to find her cell-phone and call Tomoyo for help.

Neither kid notices the intense boy with memories and powers far beyond his age that has orchestrated the attack, watching them with a placid smile. But on the other hand, the powerful, mysterious magician isn't very observant either. For instance, he hasn't noticed nor cared about Harry's contribution to the fight, cloaked as it was in velvety darkness. His focus is entirely on Sakura.

Kero throws a fit when they are brought home by Tomoyo's helpful bodyguards.

Harry is sleeping soundly, exhausted, and Sakura is bleary-eyed and barely able to give a confusing account of being attacked before she falls asleep as well, head nearly dropping into her cup of tea, and the Sun Guardian is both terrified and furious.

“They were in danger, and I could do nothing!” he rages at the videogame he's playing with much more fury than a Tetris would warrant. “I didn't even know!”

That Touya arrives home supporting a very tired Yukito who looks a step away from collapsing doesn't help.

They are all awake by dinnertime and they dug in with relish – Yukito especially is ravenous, and he seems to feel better with every bite he takes - while Sakura and Harry recount the episode in more detail to Touya and the Guardians as well as Tomoyo and Syaoran, who have come over for the meal, taking advantage of the fact that Mr. Kinomoto is staying at the university overnight.

The atmosphere around the kitchen table is rather gloomy. No-one likes the implication of such a blatant magical attack.

“Don't worry about it,” says Sakura consolingly to the downtrodden winged plush-toy. “We were alright, anyway.”

“How can I not worry!” cires Kero. “Strange things are happening – someone wants to hurt you – we don't know how much Harry can push his limits before exhaustion – and there's this presence that-”

He cuts himself off, to the children's bemusement. Yue is glaring at him from Yukito's eyes and Touya's eyes are narrowed at his best friend. Harry exchanges puzzled glances with the other kids: nobody understands what's going on with the older three.

“Be that as it may,” says Sakura determinedly, “there's nothing I can do worrying about it! I want to stay cheerful so that when something happens again I can do something about it!”

Harry smiles at her: “Right! We'll just have to do our best, and learn to use more magic!”

Then he yawns, sleepy again, and it sets off Sakura too.

“Kero and I will try and determine where the source of the magical attack might have been,” says Yue softly, transforming in his true form as he gets up from the table.

Touya regards him worriedly, but says nothing as the two Guardians make their way to the window and then out.

They return with frowns on their faces and little in the way of answers.

Both are sure that they have felt the presence of Clow Reed and neither is having an easy time with facing this fact.

Kero is agitated and confused. How can Clow be there? He passed away long ago, it shouldn't be possible. Is he alive? But why let them think he was dead, then? And if he is alive, if he is here... what does that mean for them? For Yue, especially?

Doubt clouds his mind.

Maybe it's not their former Master, after all. Even a magician as powerful as Clow cannot cheat death. Maybe they're wrong, they misunderstood what they sensed.

But what if it's true?

If Clow has really returned... What does it mean for them, for Harry? What is he after? Why is he hiding, what is he planning?

The Sun Guardian is troubled and doesn't know what to make of things.

Yue has it worse.

Clow had always inspired strong emotion in him, be it the admiration of a child, the respect of a student, the devotion of a Guardian, the... love... of a friend. And later, after he'd abandoned them, betrayed them, bitter sorrow, raging anger, resigned grief.

In the past few weeks, Harry's enthusiasm, Yukito's kind warmth, Touya's steady comfort, Sakura's cheerfulness and even Kero's annoying affection have helped him reach a calmer sort of understanding. Surrounded by his newly formed, odd little family, he can look back to the... lost past... with more serenity than he expected to ever find. Without grief and anger clouding his emotions, he can recognize that it has been good, very good, but that he has a new life now. Clow is gone, he won't be back, and that is as it should be.

And now, just when he's found a measure of peace, he can sense _him_ again.

Life is simply cruel.

There is no doubt in his mind. Unlike Keroberos, he knows with certainty that this is definitely Clow at work. His magic, his style, his very strange sense of humour, Yue recognizes it all.

But if it _is_ Clow, why hasn't he contacted him? Then? He was always secretive and manipulative... but surely he doesn't need to trick his own Guardians from the shadows like this?

Except that, of course, they are no longer _his_ Guardians. Harry is their Master now. And suddenly Yue doesn't know how to feel about this anymore...

Neither Guardian is willing to disclose their turmoil to their new family. Yue merely disappears in the recesses of his and Yukito's shared mind, because he needs a bit of time to sort himself out, while Keroberos holes himself up in Sakura's rooms with Yukito's entire stash of flavoured chocolates and a new version of PacMan.

Yukito takes their unspoken request seriously and spends the whole afternoon distracting Harry with making beanbag balls for the upcoming Autumn Festival.

The tossable, squishable balls, lightweight and easy to grip, are a long-standing favourite attraction for all the children that regularly want to try their hands at juggling after watching the professionals' performances at the Shrine and volunteers for making them are always welcome by the organizers of the festival.

The Sand is transformed without much fanfare and the shapeless flow that moves vaguely like a sensuous serpent eagerly helps the child to pour the lentils into the colourful balloons.

“It's having fun,” giggles Harry to Yukito, who smiles kindly and replies: “I'm glad to hear it!”

However, as the hour grows late Yukito and Harry grow worried. They are waiting for Sakura to come home: she has left written on the kitchen board that Tomoyo wishes to stay and practice the song she's been assigned for the next choir context and Sakura will wait for her. But it's hours past the end of the school day and there is still no sign of either girl.

Harry is a hair's breath away from running out to look for his sister, despite Yukito's worried admonishments about having already expended magic today.

“But what if she's in trouble?” he protests. “What if she was attacked again? What if she needs help?”

The front door opens: it's Touya getting home from work and he's carrying a sleepy Sakura and followed by a badly shaken Tomoyo supporting an exhausted Syaoran. Yukito and Harry pale, worried that Sakura might be hurt, but they are quickly reassured.

Touya deposits her on the couch and then drags both Guardians out of their self-imposed solitude to hear the kids' tale. He had 'sensed' earlier in the day that his sister would be in danger, but he couldn't get there in time to help. All he's seen was a huge piano crash to the ground after a several floors fall, and Sakura, Tomoyo and the Li brat looking sheepishly over the edge of the school's roof.

“I never dreamt a day would ever come that I would be chased by a piano,” sighs Tomoyo, taking on the role of narrator since it was her that the suddenly self-moving piano chased. “It seemed to be attracted by my voice. It was so scary!”

“It's a good thing I always keep my sword with me, in its pendant form,” mutters Syaoran. “My lightning spells could at least slow the thing down a little.”

“It was lucky, too, that Tomoyo practises rather late, so there was nobody else left there,” adds Sakura, shuddering at the thought of a crazed animated piano hunting her schoolmates.

“Are you saying that a _baby grand piano_ suddenly up and chased you like a hungry wolf?” asks Harry, torn between horrified incredulity and awed envy.

The three shudder: “Too accurate,” grumbles Syaoran.

“I can't believe it!” repeats Kero.

“You say it was attracted by your voice, Tomoyo-chan?” asks Touya neutrally and she nods.

“Like The Voice and The Song,” chirps Harry, taking out the two Cards he transformed a while earlier, precisely with the help of Tomoyo, who sang duets with them, and smiling at them.

“I'm not surprised,” smiles Sakura. “Tomoyo-chan really has a beautiful voice! And the song she is practising is pretty, too. I heard it during lunch... Eriol-kun accompanied her on the piano, and it was just wonderful!”

“Eriol?” asks Touya sharply.

“That's the transfer student you were telling me about the other day, isn't he?” adds Harry curiously.

“Yes!” nods Sakura enthusiastically. “Eriol-kun is a very good pianist!” she smiles cutely.

Syaoran's fist hits the tea-table noisily and everybody looks at him oddly. He goes red in the face and murmurs some unintelligible excuses.

“Back to the mad piano,” says Touya firmly, barely sparing a glare to the brat he refuses to like.

“How did you escape?” asks Yukito, wide-eyed.

“We combined our powers,” says Sakura, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Touya and the Guardians look at her with their eyes bulging out, completely shocked. Harry, who doesn't know that such a thing is supposedly impossible, just crows: “Cool!”

“...Sakura's magic is stronger, but I know how to use mine better,” explains Syaoran quietly, fidgeting uncomfortably in his seat.

Tomoyo gushes: “It was magnificent to see them call forth their weapons together... as if they had practised the choreography... and slap the talismans for wind and lightning on them in perfect synchrony... the spells rushing forth together, lights merging and strengthening each other... they were so splendid! I should have prepared matching combat costumes! Next time...”

“There isn't supposed to be a next time!” bursts out Touya, glowering.

“He's right! That's it!” shouts Kero, striking a pose. He points at Harry and Sakura in turn, dramatically. “Neither of you is to go anywhere alone ever again! I will be with you at all times!”

“But, how are you going to stay with both of us at school? We're in different classes!” points out Sakura perplexed.

Kero's little mouth works soundlessly as he grasps for an answer.

Syaoran snorts: “You stay with your Master, plushie...”

“What was that?” Kero rounds on him in outrage.

“...I'll protect Sakura,” concludes Syaoran.

There is a short silence – until Yukito chuckles at the thunderous expression on Touya's face: “It sounds like an excellent plan,” he says smugly.

Touya and Kero both glower at him.

However the plan backfires when mysterious strings entrap Syaoran and force him to attack Sakura with his sword, against his will.

It takes all his force of will to use a water talisman in order to make the invisible threads apparent, and then, while he struggles to oppose the forced movements, and almost manages, Sakura has to twist her magic into a new form, because none of the pre-prepared ones can be of any help, since she refuses to even consider hurting her friend.

Thankfully she's already done this, when she's instinctively called forth a shield during the first odd attack, and she and Harry have spent quite some time discussing that and how she did it and what else she can try to do. This, she reassures herself, is mostly the same thing, only in reverse, because rather than wanting to repel something, she wants to _take_ it.

Her staff shines with her power and she resolutely shapes it into an invisible grasp that tears the sword from her friend's grip and quickly turns it around to cut the strings.

Syaoran is freed just in time to catch her as she faints.

“I guess Eriol-kun was right,” she comments serenely when she recounts things to her family later on.

“Eriol?” asks Touya, even more sharply than the first time.

“Yes!” she answers warmly. “He told me that you can use string for a lot of things...”

“When was this?” asks Touya, suspicion heavy in his tone.

Yukito teases him about his 'sister complex', but for once, it's not that. It just feels like too odd a coincidence that both weird attacks on his little sister have somehow been linked to this strange boy. And who knows – maybe even the earliest one!

Yue has caught on and nudges Yukito's mind, sharing the suspicions, as Sakura and Syaoran explain that this Eriol went to the craft shop with them today.

“You haven't met this kid, have you, Harry?” Yukito asks frowning.

Harry shakes his head. “Is something wrong?” he asks, worried by how his older brothers are acting.

“Perhaps not,” allows Touya. “It just seems suspicious, is all. What do we know of this boy, anyway?”

Sakura blinks and Li scowls and neither seem to know what to say.

“He is very nice,” states Sakura in the end.

Syaoran snorts. “He's weird,” he says curtly, making Sakura frown. “Aloof. And too composed to be real.”

“He acts very mature, but there's nothing wrong with that!” she retorts reproachfully.

Syaoran just looks at her with tempestuous eyes and Sakura, as usual completely oblivious, blinks at him perplexed: “Is something wrong?”

“We also know that he's a transfer student,” interjects Harry, who, being one himself, has remembered this fact the most. “And that he can play the piano.”

“That's right, he came from overseas,” agrees Sakura nodding.

“From England,” specifies Syaoran.

“Like me!” exclaims Harry.

“Like Clow,” says Yue, sullen, and that casts a feeling of uncertainty and unease over all of them.

It is some long minutes later when Keroberos finds the courage to break the silence: “Yue...”

He falters, then tries again: “Lately, we have been feeling a certain presence... of someone we both know well...”

Yue shuts Yukito's eyes firmly, refusing to face this discussion, and Kero trails off with a sigh.

“What are you talking about?” asks Harry, upset.

“Nothing,” is the curt answer - and he can frown and pout all he wants, they aren't saying anything more.

Touya sighs and sums it all up with: “We'll just have to be extra careful.”

Over the next few days, they catch a spell on a teddy bear Sakura is making, that this Eriol has touched with a pretext – a purple paper talisman bearing the symbol of Clow's magic; and another one on Touya's bike, after Eriol has moved it while helping Sakura sweep the leaves in the yard – it goes mad, exactly like the piano, and it takes Harry transforming The Loop to stop it.

As Touya comments, it's uncanny.

Too many strange coincidences, too many unexplainable chains of events. A question keeps buzzing around in everybody's head: what in the world is going on?

They still don't know who is behind all of it, not for sure, but the Guardians' suspicions are becoming stronger and stronger. They can still feel Clow Reed's presence, a presence that shouldn't exist, for he passed away a long time ago, and yet is there, and getting stronger. And whatever is going on, that Eriol is in the thick of it, somehow.

Yue is hovering like an overprotective parent around Harry, Kero is always with Sakura and always on high alert, even Touya is nervous and leaves one of his two part-time jobs in order to be around more.

Everybody is high-strung and irritated, even Yukito, who for all his patient and forbearing nature, is growingly peeved at the Akizuki girl who just _won't let To-ya be!_

Meanwhile Harry is transforming the Cards with single-minded determination. He doesn't want to be caught off guard again. His Card-friends have been very useful every time his sister has been in danger, so he's determined to have them all as ready as he will be, next time she's in trouble.

The strain of such hurry is hard, and not only on him.

Yue's reserves are dwindling more and more, his powers waning to the point that he's worried that he might no longer be able to return to his true form. Already it is inadvisable to try outside of an emergency and Yukito remains himself nearly all the time, to conserve their shared energy.

The pale-haired young man tries to be supportive of his other self, but it's hard on him, too, and neither really knows what to do. They can't ask Harry to slow down, not with someone out to hurt Sakura.

Especially if the one targeting her is Clow...

Especially if they can't figure out what he wants...

Especially if Harry might end up being the only one powerful enough to face this mysterious opponent. He'll need the Cards, in that case.

Yukito is eating more than usual to sustain them both, but it's of no use: the Moon shines as reflective light, after all; they need someone else's magic as the source and Harry is simply too young to have enough energy.

If this keeps up, both Yue and Yukito will disappear, but neither sees any alternative.

Even more worrisome are Harry's nightmares, which, with how exhausted he always is, are increasing not only in frequency, but in violence too.

Yukito has managed to draw out of him a few admissions about his horrid uncle featuring in some of them, and about his new family rejecting him, yelling at him, throwing him out. Those fears are simple to confront, though by no means easy. There is still something else, however, and that Harry refuses to share is definitely troubling.

Touya feels helpless.

He can feel his best friend waning under his very eyes, his little sister is almost constantly under attack from an unknown, dangerous source, and his little brother is struggling with a kind of enemy he cannot truly do anything about.

He listens to the noises coming from Harry's room and wishes he could do more than be there when he wakes up and listen to Yuki reassure the child that he is safe, that nightmares go away when you wake up. He wishes he could do more than trust his sister and her brat to take care of themselves. Most of all, he wishes he could just grab Yuki tight and _keep_ him, keep him from disappearing, keep him from fading through his fingers.

It isn't until Harry gets to the last few Cards that things truly take a turn for the worse, however.

He has avoided, not entirely consciously, to touch The Dream and The Illusion after the bad experiences they put him through, but now they are the only ones left, besides The Dark and The Light.

Yue and Kero both explain patiently that The Dark and The Light are the hardest Cards to master and that he should do the other two first. So Harry takes a deep breath and shoves his reluctance away.

The Illusion goes off rather well because Sakura has the idea that he should use it for his science project: it is supposed to be about the solar system and between the Card's ability and Tomoyo's help with her trusted camera, Harry can make a beautiful recording of an illusionary planetarium, with him in a very stylish costume of simple grey, black and white fabric, with formal cut and understated golden stars as buttons, acting as showman and introducing to the spectators the various planets.

It is a great success, he gets a very high mark along with gushing compliments from his teacher, and Tomoyo pesters Sakura to wear her own version of the costume and let herself be filmed in the same role.

Changing The Dream, on the other hand, is traumatic.

The visions that The Dream shows are no ordinary dreams. They can reveal to you what you desire the most... what you need to know the most... or sometimes... what the future holds... but never are they trivial or meaningless.

It is also a very stubborn Card, rather inclined to do what it wants regardless of wishes or instructions.

Harry forces the transformation past his own reluctance and immediately feels, strongly and clearly, that it has a dream waiting for him – whether prophetic or elucidative he could not tell, even if he knew the meaning of the words.

With a resigned sigh, he lets himself fall asleep, the now emerald-backed Card held tightly over his heart and Touya's comforting hand carding through his hair.

In the beginning, it is like he's flying over all sorts of places, which is rather pleasant he admits, but then he slows down and the sky grows dark, fast. Both the sun and the moon are hidden and there are no stars; the world is plunged into darkness. To him, however, it isn't scary at all, but familiar, almost comforting. When everything has turned black, he realizes that someone is standing on top of the entrance arch.

Quick as he's become to recognize magic around him, he immediately feels how The Dream's influence is stronger around them. They must be the ones the Card wants him to see.

Three figures... the darkness doesn't allow him to catch any detail, and they aren't even looking his way, but going by their silhouettes, the central one is a boy in a long cape – or is it a tall man instead? The image seems to flicker oddly between the two shapes... - while the two framing him almost look like his Guardians... someone with long hair and wings and something like a huge leopard...

And then the dream takes a drastic turn to the worst.

Another power, different, horrid, rises behind him. Harry recognizes instantly the feeling. It is the same of his nightmares. Cold, slimy, greedy. It shoots tentacles of power towards him, grabbing, seizing.

The all-too-well-known high pitched laughter resounds and Harry's breath catches on his whimper. This is a different kind of darkness, not the comforting cool that cradles everything that is, but the wet, hot mouth of an all-consuming monster.

Usually the Nightmare Bearer just plunges Harry into fear, bombarding him with the hated images of his uncle towering over him in a rage, or of a blinding green blast exploding over his mum and him like a deafening bomb, or worst of all, of Touya and the others looking at him with disgust and hatred.

Usually, it just saps Harry's energy until he tears himself from it and wakes up, weak and trembling, and is soothed by Yukito and the others.

But this time... this time The Dream is there, and active, and the Nightmare Bearer darts forth to plunge its horrid clutches into the Card's power, feeding upon it.

The Dream wavers and flickers, unable to face the sudden onslaught... Harry screams, as he always does, but as usual, it is of no use...

The three figures atop the Shrine arc are still there, on one side, and Harry can equate them to the feeling he regularly gets from The Dream, which is a very aloof Card, and pitiless, and ruthless, but never malicious.

From the opposite pole of the dreamscape comes true evil, though. There is someone there, or something, and it latches on his magic and twists it into all the wrong shapes.

Harry screams again, screams until his throat is raw. His head is pounding and he feels blinding pain in his forehead, like a knife slashing him with burning force.

The three figures are at his back now, as he faces the monster coming for him, and they are drifting away, so far away... they lose importance, even as Harry feels, detachedly, distantly, that The Dream is displeased by this. The Card thinks it is important that he meets the strange boy, and it's terrified and angry that this evil darkness is derailing its efforts.

But the horror reaching for him is too strong, overwhelming, and it is filthy, and unpleasant, and there is no escape...

Outside the dreamscape, his little family panics when his odd lightning shaped scar, that they never paid much attention to, starts bleeding a dark, oozing blood.

Harry screams and screams, but none of their efforts can wake him.

Everybody can feel that the bleeding scar is magical in nature. And that it's evil.

Sakura bursts into tears when she touches it, her growing empathy completely overwhelmed by its darkness. The drain on the Guardians' power is strong, too strong. Keroberos, whose Sensing ability is the most honed, shouts that _something_ is trying to steal Harry's magic and he shields instinctively, cutting himself off from whatever is attacking his Master.

But this just strengthens the draw on Yue. This isn't the usual prickle Harry demands of the Moon Guardian when he changes the Cards or uses more than one at a time. This is a veritable flood, pulsing through them like a wave, taking more and more with every passing instant.

Yue and Yukito cry out in united distress. It feels as if the power is being ripped from them.

“Yuki!” yells Touya as their shared body slumps bonelessly to the ground, unable to stay up. They begin to fade and the desperate cries from their loved ones around them are faint and far to their ears while they start falling into the void.

Yue can feel his Master struggling in a losing battle and he can feel, too, the slimy, filthy darkness that has latched onto him and is trying to take him over. It laughs cruelly when it senses him, it offers life and energy if he would but yield, if he would obey and serve. The Guardian is repulsed and throws himself back, away, because death is a thousand times preferable to living through that foul, monstrous power.

Strong arms close around their shared body and Yue, who is more experienced and more strong-willed too, is still coherent enough to feel Touya's hand at their temple, to hear his soft call: “Yu...ki...”

It helps him fight the impulse to just let go, to give up. Touya is clutching him close and Yue reaches out to Yukito and stops his fading and for an eternal moment, they are suspended in uncertainty.

The Moon Guardian shakes with effort, terrified for his Master that he almost cannot sense anymore, terrified for Yukito who is slipping away, terrified of what all this will mean for the Cards, for Keroberos, for Touya and Sakura...

In desperation, Yue draws instinctively from the nearest power source: Touya.

The young man holds his breath sharply when he feels the tug on his magic, but he realizes instantly what the Moon Guardian is asking of him and he doesn't hesitate to open himself completely, offering his own energy, reaching through the invisible distance to share his inner strength with Yue, to pull Yuki back to them, and further still, down the bond of Guardian to Master, to call for Harry who is lost in horrifying darkness.

It is all the child needs, the familiar, loved voice echoing strong even through the cries in his nightmares. Relief coursing strongly through him, Harry runs towards his big brother, and when the all-consuming, filthy darkness tries to trap him, he lets out a bellowing cry and whips out The Thunder, not even bothering to puzzle how he can call on it in a dreamscape, and then The Freeze right on the heels of the huge wolf crackling with lightning, freezing the hot, slimy darkness behind his running Master until it stills, enraged but defeated, and Harry thrusts a hand out blindly, trusting without even knowing why that his Card-friends will float to him, and just like that, they do, and they all fall back out of the nightmarish dreamscape and into the eerily familiar bedroom, utterly exhausted.

Yukito opens his eyes to find himself half-lying, half-sitting, Touya's arm tight around him. The other young man looks completely done for. Harry is cradled between them, pale and shaking and sobbing, blood still smeared on his little face. Sakura is trembling and has her head buried in her big brother's side, while he hugs her for all he's worth. Kerobero's plush-form slips in snugly in the middle of the hug.

They all need the reassurance.


	12. A for Achievements

Nobody even dreams of leaving the house for the next few days. In fact, they are reluctant to leave each other's presence. Each of them is shaken by what happened and trying to cope in their own way.

Harry is having the hardest time. He is frightened of sleeping and of what might happen when he inevitably does. The fact that there is a monster inside him, in his mind, makes him feel dirty, as if he were carrying some deadly illness that might harm everybody he loves.

And it can. It's not an illness, in fact it's worse, but it can and will hurt his family if he isn't strong enough to stop it.

And he fears that he isn't.

It is a truly terrible thought, the idea that something inside him is so dangerous to those who are most important to him, a thought that makes his stomach squirm and writhe horribly every time it rises in his mind. And lately, that's often.

It's like poison is pumping through his veins, this fear, chilling him, making him sweat and gasp and close his eyes tightly, hoping it will all go away. But it doesn't.

And what if the Nightmare Bearer can make him do things? It is inside him... listening to his thoughts, watching through his eyes, probably... what if it makes Harry attack his family?

Harry feels so ill that he can hardly force himself to eat. His lack of proper sleep and nutrition is taking its toll on the child. He looks a fright. His typical what-is-this-'comb'-you-speak-of hairstyle is even more messy than usual, his face pale and drawn, his eyes troubled.

Some of his Card-friends try and cheer him up – The Watery and The Glow and The Mirror especially, who are his favourite companions – but without much success.

He is always so tired… but he is scared to sleep… yet he knows he can't fight it for too long… but he is scared… what if it happens again? What if he can't wake up before he does something horrible to his family?

The other aren't faring much better and nobody doubts the hasty excuse of having come down with something they use to avoid school.

Fujitaka is so worried by his children's sudden 'illness' that he cancels a dig he was supposed to go to, despite their protests, so that he can look after them. No-one has the heart to tell the kind-hearted man that glasses of orange-juice and bed rest aren't going to cut it in this case.

Sakura takes on the task of distracting him from the whole 'magic' angle, but she has difficulties being her usual cheerful self.

Seeing the naked fear and affection on her brother's face when he hugged Yukito that night has been a hard blow. Compared to the intensity she could see in his eyes, her own crush seems suddenly silly.

Especially since she has seen how her big brother accepts absolutely everything of Yukito. That, she hasn't been able to do, for all that he is so important to her. She still startles and feels her heart race when Yue takes over. She cannot figure out how her beloved Yukito can be hiding within the aloof Moon Guardian that still scares her a little – nor viceversa.

The way Touya simply takes their coexistence for granted and is, apparently, perfectly accepting, humbles her. Surely, if her feelings for Yukito were as strong and as true as she thought, she would be able to do the same?

Hidden from the searching gaze of her family, she hugs her knees and bows her head. Words Tomoyo spoke to her come to her mind: 'the biggest happiness is to see someone you really like stay happy'.

She believes it. She believes it fully.

If Yukito is happy, that makes her the happiest, right? Especially since the person he likes the most is someone she unquestionably loves.

She is happy for Yukito and for her big brother. Her wonderful, mean big brother who clearly holds Yukito as his number one person... though she will give him a piece of her mind if he is ever mean to him!... She is ecstatic to see them together. Really, she is!

But then why does she feel like crying?

She hates it, she hates that the tears come out anyway. She really thinks that if Yukito and her big brother are happy, then everything's all right...

Luckily with all that is going on, nobody thinks she's struggling with something else than the worry and uncertainty they all share. She is determined that she will not trouble them with this silliness of hers.

It's Syaoran the only one who notices and when he confronts her, she pours out her feelings without even realizing how odd it should be to confide in him.

She does not see his peaceful, content expression as he hugs her gently.

To the rest of her family, however, she says nothing, claiming that she's just troubled by Harry's scar. Which isn't a lie: she still shudders every time she catches sight of it. The dark emotions she felt from it are overwhelming even in memory. It took Kero-chan hours to make her feel better.

She tries her best to tell Harry that it's not his fault, but nevertheless, the child is desolate, Touya dark in the face and Yukito uneasy. The two young men, however, acknowledge that Harry's battle of wills with the Nightmares Bearer is not the only thing that troubles them.

Yue and Yukito are struggling with accepting Touya's gift. The transfer of magic that dreadful night was a temporary fix, a desperate attempt in a moment of crisis, but the dark-haired young man wastes no time proposing to make it permanent. With Harry facing what he's facing, to have him tire out supporting Yue and Yuki, and worse, so worried about hurting them that he hesitates in defending himself, is too great a risk.

On top of that, Harry is losing more and more energy. It's as if The Dream's intervention unwittingly destroyed whatever protective barrier kept the monster at bay outside of nightmares and now, it leeches off Harry's power almost non-stop. There is a chance that Harry won't be able to support Yue – nor the Cards – anymore soon.

Yukito wavers, protests, frets: “You won't be able to see your mother anymore...”

“An acceptable loss,” is the nonchalant answer.

“You always relied on your power of premonition. If you don't give them up, you'll be...”

“Without you,” cuts him off Touya. “And that is unacceptable, Yuki.”

Yue knows they cannot afford to refuse, not with his Master in danger from a frightful evil and a mysterious opponent that might or might not be the incredibly powerful Clow Reed still out there and targeting them.

They need the strength that comes form the magic Touya offers so freely, the liquid vigour that flows into them, strong and warm, comforting, healthful, energizing, wrapping around them like a bright wind. With their best friend's power rushing through their shared body, Yue feels the magic responding to his slightest thought and that, hopefully, will make a difference against their enemies.

He knows that they can't possibly afford to turn the generous offer down, but that doesn't mean that he isn't aware of the magnitude of such a sacrifice.

Whenever he tries to bring up the topic, his typical half-smile touches Touya's mouth and he shrugs his worries off along with his thanks. But the Moon Guardian will not forget what he is doing for him – and Yukito, of course. Mostly for Yukito, actually, and for the first time, Yue feels a little jealous.

But that's ridiculous. Touya has never made him feel unwelcome and while it's true that they don't share the closeness that he and Yukito have built over the years, it is also true that Yue doesn't truly want it.

Most likely, it's just that he is feeling Touya's magic more strongly than ever and its almost magnetic quality is naturally drawing them together – all three of them. He often catches himself brushing against the wave of quiet, strong power that is so uniquely Touya, feeling the steadying comfort it embodies.

However, the downside of the transfer is that Touya's energy is depleted. Supporting a powerful magical being is no small feat and it is wearying him down. He spends most of his time sleeping now, relaxed and helpless even as his power thrums steady and strong through Yukito's and Yue's shared mind and body.

Yuki mopes around, miserable and guilty, and after a while, Touya snaps at him: “I could tell you for days on end that I don't mind, and you'll probably just dream up some nonsense about me being polite, but at least accept this: we need Yue at his best! What if whatever's in Harry attacks again?”

By unfortunate chance, Harry hears this. Touya is worried _for him_ most of all, but the child doesn't even consider this. His mind instantly interprets it as an accusation.

He's putting his family into danger. He must leave, immediately. He doesn't even know why they haven't yet told him to get out, he's sure that none of them can possibly want him there anymore, now that they know what's inside him, now that they know that the Dursleys were right and he really is a dangerous freak.

He supposes that they are too nice and generous to tell him to his face, but it's clear that he must go. He knows they won't ask him to, but he knows his duty too. He cannot stay and risk hurting them again.

He restlessly shuffles through the Cards, trying to come up with a plan. He stops at The Mirror. Perfect. She's been dying to visit with Touya ever since he told her, at her capture, that he wouldn't mind her 'dropping by' and she's missed him when Harry changed her because he was working, serving tea at a social event, at the time, so she's eager to help him out.

Had they tried this gig some time earlier, it would never have worked, but with Touya's powers diminished as they are and Yukito out grocery shopping, it is a good half-hour before Keroberos comes down hunting for sweets and recognizes her.

Touya's furious reaction scares the poor Card and she's in tears within seconds. Running an exasperated hand through his own dark bangs, Touya wonders what he's done to earn such karma.

With a sigh, he sinks to his knees before the Harry look-alike. “It's okay,” he reassures her very gently, “you're not in trouble. Really,” he insists when she raises tear-filled green eyes to him, “I'm not mad at you.”

She smiles hopefully and he softens his voice as much as he can to ask: “Can you help us find Harry?”

A sad little frown and a shake of her messy black hair is the dreaded answer. “I'm sorry,” she whispers very softly, tears pooling in her eyes.

Touya feels like banging his head on the wall and the damn stuffed lion is so not helping, panicking like that. About all he accomplishes is to knock himself out on a kitchen cupboard door and fall to the floor under the cascade of tins and boxes that tumble out of it.

Touya can only shake his head in long-suffering resignation as he absently strokes a blushing Mirror's hair and tries to think up a plan of action.

Luckily his sister and her friends come home just then and for once, the Li brat has a good idea. Quickly, Touya follows the brat to his apartment to fetch the strange device, created by Clow Reed, that the Li has used in the past to track the Clow Cards.

They're hoping that the star-shaped instrument, being based essentially on I Ching Divination lines and the interaction of the Elements with the Cardinal Points, will work on the new Cards just as well and therefore, pry is having the hardest time. H 

It does, to their immense relief. They find Harry curled up in a dark corner of an alley not far from where he lived with the Dursleys, lost and filled to bursting with hopeless, miserable confusion, sobbing softly.

Touya picks him up none-too-gently, scowling like never before: “You,” he states with deadly precision, “are an idiot.”

Then he slings the child over his shoulder, as if he was a sack of potatoes, and stalks back home, Li trailing behind him.

Tears fall quickly and hotly down Harry's childlike face as he's lowered on the couch rather more gently than he expected. Touya's face is still thunderous, though, even as he runs his hand through Harry's hair in an oh-so-familiar gesture.

Yukito is frantic as he checks Harry over twice or thrice and scolds him and hugs him and demands to know what he was thinking and fusses over him rather incoherently. Kero for his part has no compunctions yelling at him for his stupidity.

“I'm sorry,” Harry weeps, hiccuping, “It's all my fault. It's because I'm not strong enough, and Touya's had to give up his power, and Yukito and Yue are going to die and then they'll hate me, and there's a monster inside me and he wants to hurt you, and I'm a danger to you and-”

Yue remains carefully neutral. His Master reminds him so much of himself at times: so eager to take the blame on himself.

“Stop right there!” bursts out Sakura, full of righteous indignation. “You've got it all wrong! We love you, little brother! And none of this – do you hear me? - none of this is your fault!”

She's passionate and earnest and she hugs him tightly when she reassures him over and over that they love him and always will and she smiles brightly and comfortingly, proclaiming that 'they will be all right'.

Harry is wide-eyed and hiccuping, but calms down slowly and in the end, even manages a very tremulous smile.

Later that night, as Harry lies curled up in his bed but wide awake out of fear of sleeping, The Mirror glows brightly and a beautiful green-haired girl draped in a long flowing Chinese dress emerges from her Card form with a big smile. She plants herself in front of Harry as he sits up in surprise and she shakes her flowing hair joyously, as if showing off.

Harry's eyes widen: “You've got new ribbons!” he exclaims, noticing the green pieces of cloth woven in her long locks.

Of all his Card-friends, she's the one that can act like a human girl the most and it shows, now, in the delight with which she arranges and rearranges her tresses over her shoulders for maximum effect.

“Do you like them?” she asks happily and Harry smiles and nods.

“But where did you get them?” he asks in wonder.

“Present!” she chirps giddily and makes a little twirl where she stands. “From your big brother!”

“ _Touya_ gave you ribbons?”

She sighs in delight, flopping down on his bed: “Hm-hm! He's so nice, isn't he? He said he didn't mean to make me cry this afternoon... he found the ribbons just for me in his mother's chest! He's so wonderful!” she sighs again, dreamily, and Harry stifles a giggle.

She rolls on her side and regards him seriously: “I'm sorry I couldn't fool him.”

Harry shakes his head. Truth be told, he's rather glad they found him. He didn't exactly have an idea about what to do. And even if fear is coiling inside him like a cold weight, their reassurances and affection are something he cannot help but bask in.

“It's all right, Mirror. Thank you for your help, anyway!”

She smiles brightly and rolls on her back again. “Your big brother really is rather nice, isn't he?” she remarks again. “So cute, too!”

Harry rolls his eyes. “You're such a girl,” he complains fondly. “But the ribbons do look good on you.”

She giggles and dissolves into light, going back to her Card form.

After the scare Harry gave them, everybody is keeping a sharp eye on him. It's too bad that no-one knows how to solve the problem of the Nightmares Bearer. They are at a complete loss... until Sakura quite randomly exclaims, dejectedly: “I wish we had some books on magic! Maybe we could find out something useful!”

It's like a light bulb has switched on in Yue's mind and he throws himself into studying the cursed scar.

Clow was a Master in more than one sense and unlike Keroberos, the Moon Guardian was a diligent and dedicated apprentice. Yukito goes to bed at night only to wake up still tired to pages and pages of notes in Yue's narrow and precise calligraphy, so different from his own, loopy one. The Moon Guardian does his best to remember anything and everything that might help, uncaring of his own exhaustion.

Some of what he pieces together from his memories is more useful to Sakura and the Li, and even Touya, who take the chance to concentrate on practising various forms of magic with relief – and mixed success.

Nothing seems to be of use for his Master's situation, however, until he comes to a startling but decisive conclusion. Promptly, he calls what Yukito in jest dubs 'a council of war'.

“I think this presence in your mind is linked to what that woman told us about your parents,” he says without preambles. “She claimed they were magicals and mentioned they were attacked and killed by another magician – quite obviously, an evil one, as according to her, your scar was given to you by him and considering you were only a baby back then..."

He trails off, disgusted at the mere idea of attacking a fifteen months old child, then goes on: “It is not impossible – difficult, yes, but not impossible – that that same murderer left this 'monster' in your mind, tying its existence to the scar, much in the same way Clow tied elemental forces to his Cards.”

Harry draws in a horrified breath and Sakura's eyes are filled with tears, but Li's and Kero's eyes are darkly accepting. Both, despite their better nature, have been made aware of the darkest side of magic... and of human soul.

Touya remains neutral, only his clenched fists betraying his tension and anger. “Can we get rid of it?”

“We must!” cries Sakura alarmed.

“I mean without harming Harry, monster.”

The specification horrifies Sakura enough that she lets the affectionate insult slide without a fuss.

“It's actually up to Harry,” says Yue with a calm that is just a touch too cold to be natural. The child is pale under the azure gaze pinning him. “This 'Nightmare Bearer', as you call it, is not of your power. It uses what magic is expended in its presence to feed, but it couldn't touch you except indirectly until The Dream blurred the confines between you. That means that your innate power is still stronger, if you don't lose your mind to panic. So...”

Yue kneels to be eye-level with his Master and says, bluntly: “Cast it out.”

Harry swallows convulsively: “How?”

Yue shakes his head, gently: “Whatever power you feel inside that isn't yours... just cast it out. Banish it away. You don't want it inside you. Therefore it has no business being there.”

“But...” tries the child, looking lost.

“Just follow your instincts,” advises Keroberos, fluttering to perch on Harry's shoulder. “You're a powerful magician and you have a good connection to your magic. If you keep clear in mind what you want to accomplish, that is, throwing that disgusting stuff out of you, then you can leave the rest to your magic to figure out. Just follow your instincts,” he reiterates.

Harry looks down at his clasped hands, unwilling to meet their eyes, and mumbles, frightened: “...if I'm not strong enough?”

“You are...” starts Yue, but Touya talks over him, calm and precise and with such utter confidence that is sounds more incontrovertible a fact than the declaration that the sun will rise tomorrow: “We'll be there with you, so of course you'll be stronger than anything it throws at you.”

Harry's eyes snap up at him, wide with wonder and hope and gratitude, and Touya shrugs as he gets up from the table, stretching his arms nonchalantly: “Come on, then. No time like the present.”

“What?” squeaks Harry, thrown off kilter, feeling his anxiety level sky-rocket.

Touya picks him up with an arm around his stomach and ignores his nervous protests as he takes him up to his room, everybody else on their heels.

They are halfway up the stairs when the door opens and they realize Fujitaka is home. Tomoyo quickly offers to deal with him and they hear the beautiful girl slip gracefully down the stairs and relay a supposed invitation from his mother to the kind man. They are soon leaving towards the Daidouji residence and the group resumes climbing the stairs.

Touya climbs on the bed matter-of-factly, swinging Harry around to sit across his lap, and the child feels a stab of guilt when he realizes his big brother's magic is faded and muted almost to non-existence in comparison to when he changed the first Card.

Yue seems to understand why he's biting his lip with tears in his eyes and vanishes his wings before slipping onto the bed next to Touya and grasping one of Harry's hand reassuringly, his eyes conveying the message that all is well and his Master should not feel guilty or sad about the situation.

When Yue snakes an arm around Touya's shoulder, Harry feels it as a wave of deep, steadying magic sprinkled with silver sparks and it flows naturally between the two, levelling uniformly, and settles behind Harry like a beautiful mantle cocooning him.

He wiggles a bit until he's held between the two and Yukito peeks out of Yue's eyes a moment to wish him luck, making the child smile feebly.

Keroberos' transformation to his true form unfurls before them, his wings stretching as far as they'll go before he vanishes them. He paddles through the room and bounces lightly on the bed, making Touya and Yue grunt when his not inconsiderable weight drops on their legs.

Harry reaches his hands out instinctively, running them through the maneless lion's fur. As always, the Sun Guardian's magic is hot and lively like a merry fire in the family hearth.

Sakura hesitates a little, as usual intimidated by the imposing Moon Guardian, but steels herself and sits primly next to him, reaching over his stomach for Harry.

She startles badly when Yue's hand falls lightly around her shoulder, but then she smiles brightly at the Guardian and relaxes a fraction against his side, blushing madly but grinning confidently at Harry: “We'll be all right!” she whispers conspiratorially, her magic twinkling merrily at the edges of his perception.

Li is regarding Touya suspiciously. As his magical studies have taught him, balance would require him to mirror Sakura's position on her big brother's side. Neither is particularly happy at the prospect.

Sakura, perplexed, asks solicitously: “Is there something wrong?”

Li goes red as he turns his attention to her and tries to stammer out a negation, falling silent as he stares at her concerned confusion.

“Get here, brat,” says Touya rolling his eyes. “Before nightfall, if you don't mind.”

His glare snaps Li out of his trance and they lock fiery gazes. If he wasn't so petrified by what he's about to attempt, Harry would giggle, because he can almost see the sparks in the air.

“My name is Li Syaoran!” the Chinese boy snaps.

“ 'Kid' is good enough for the likes of you!” is the prompt retort.

Keroberos grumbles deep and long: “Cut it off, already!” and the two give up.

Li sits gingerly on the edge of the bed but holds out a steady hand to Harry: “I'm right behind you,” he says sincerely, his dark, molten-chocolate-brown eyes serious and determined, and Harry nods slightly.

Then he takes a deep breath, and with a trembling voice, he calls the Cards he needs: “The Sleep,” he says and his throat is raw, so he has to swallow before adding, even more softly: “The Dream.”

The two abandon their Card forms with a bright glow and reform in mid-air over the bed, a periwinkle short-haired little girl with fairy wings and a short woman dressed in flowing robes and an elaborate headdress that covers her eyes.

Both are extremely serious, almost grim, and they clasp hands with each other as if for comfort.

Harry swallows convulsively and then nods, once, scared but determined. The Sleep waves her little wand, sprinkling her sleep-inducing dust on him, and The Dream reaches out her free hand, her peculiar power spiralling down the path the dust is tracing through the air.

Harry's eyelids grow heavy and everything goes black.

He blinks his eyes open and finds himself in a vast, grey plain made of dry, dusty earth and plunged into darkness.

He doesn't have time to wonder why The Dream feels this is the best scenario to confront the Nightmares Bearer, because the rushing wave of evilness mounts so suddenly behind his back that he stumbles and cries out.

A cruel, high-pitched laughter cackles all around him and he spins, panting harshly, trying to see what he knows must be there. But the darkness is too deep, and too foreign – it's the monster's darkness, and not Harry's own. And it feels stronger than last time.

The nightmarish cackle resounds again and a hissing voice comes on its wake, slurring, as if it hasn't been used in some time: “Back again, are you?” it garbles. “Come to give me what I'd take anyway?”

Harry runs, runs in the same, all alike dark, over the same, even plain, he runs even if he knows it's useless and indeed, it makes no difference, the scorching dark of the Nightmares Bearer keeps up with him effortlessly, as if he was running fruitlessly on the same spot.

Right when the monster is bearing down on him with yet another mad cackle, however, a blinding flash of lightning explodes just before Harry and he halts abruptly with a small cry, forced to shield his eyes.

When he can see again, a wolf-shaped blur lunges past him and straight into the slimy darkness, crackling blue-white beams zigzagging into its depths to electrocute it.

Harry stumbles again, looking in shock at the Thunder Beast, and before he can react in any way, The Watery, his very first Card-friend, is suddenly at his side, looking as ferocious as he's never seen it since the aquarium episode. Ropes of water slaps at the tentacled darkness and with a snarl, it launches itself at the monster like the lightning wolf is doing.

Then it's The Fiery's turn and the angel-like boy covered with flames waits a moment before acting, to give The Sword the time to appear in his hand; then with a feral grin he launches himself into battle against the many-handed darkness.

Harry's breath catches in awe at the spectacular battle his Card-friends are engaging. For him.

The Freeze materializes behind Harry and he almost isn't surprised anymore, though he certainly doesn't expect The Mist and The Snow to appear only to offer their power to the faltering The Watery, which absorbs them and is strengthened enough to renew its efforts.

The Nightmares Bearer doesn't give in so easily, however. Its filthy, nauseating dark has many shapes and seems to be everywhere. And suddenly Harry hears a raspy breath right by his ear: “You can't...” - Harry screams, jumping away - “...escape!”  - but the panting breath is always there.

Then another Harry is by his side, looking as pale and dishevelled and scared as he is, matching him in every detail down to the streaks of dirt on his dream-jeans.

“Mirror?” he gasps, and she nods quickly, grasping his hand for a brief moment, and then two yellow-coloured small children wearing long sleeves are there, identical if not for the tuft of hair on the forehead, pink and blue respectively, and with a stab of their fingers, two more Harrys appear beside him and Mirror, and then a kaleidoscope pattern flares for an instant and The Twins are disguised as Harrys too.

An instant later The Move is popping them here and there, scattering them around, confusing the darkness.

The Nightmares Bearer screams in frustration as it is forced to divide his attention in a thousand directions.

Not only must he deal with the fighters, that are now joined by a fast moving bolt of energy that one moment is a young elfish girl with red and yellow hair and large pink eyes and the next a body of light that fires out increasingly more accurate beams of energy, as well as deadly vortexes of sand and a continuous stream of magical arrows, which a slender blue medieval princess is engorging to frightening proportions, while her little yellow sister fights with greater strength than her body could ever stand without the help of The Power alongside a Chinese girl with shoulder length hair, sky blue eyes and the skills of an accomplished martial artist; but it must also waste energy and attention in finding its real target among all these distracting decoys, a task made worse by giant green mazes defying the laws of perspective, disorienting reality warps, echoes throwing its mad laughter back at it, rain-smelling vines snapping like mice-traps and unexpectedly disappearing paths.

The rage of the monster explodes wild and unbridled and the many tendrils of battling darkness are drawn sharply together, seized to give the Nightmares Bearer a solid form: a skeletally thin body wrapped in a black hooded cloak, wavering and undefined as if darkness itself was continually reshaping it, with unnaturally long, spidery fingers and a waxy pale head, hairless and lipless.

Every detail of its body is oddly distorted, as if the monster had a general idea of what a human looks like but couldn't reproduce it properly.

It raises both arms dramatically and walls of darkness, impenetrable, impassable, spring into existence, separating and trapping all the fighters and decoys.

While a giant dragon pile of earth and rock erupts from the dusty grey plain and starts creating ground fissures and earthquakes and a huge bird and an odd balloon pelt the monster with rocks from the air, a worried-looking woman dressed in a flowing gown grabs Harry's wrist and takes him straight through the looming walls.

Disoriented, Harry finds himself face to face with a him that wears green ribbons woven in his messy hair: wide-eyed and frazzled, Mirror pleads: “Hurry!”

Harry clenches his teeth and nods, trying to reassure her, but feels tears burning in his eyes. His Card-friends are fighting for him and risking themselves for him, to protect him and hide him. And he... doesn't know what to do.

He must... he must do something! He must save them... he can't let them down!

His Guardians' words float to him... _just cast it out... follow your instincts... tied much in the same way Clow tied elemental forces to his Cards... follow your instincts... cast it out!_

That is all he wants. That is all he needs. To expel the monster from his mind and from their lives, to root out any and all influence it has on them – on him.

To cast the monster... _OUT!_

And he shouts the word as loudly as he can, bellowing it with all his rage and fear and desperate fury, and he hurls all his power at the monster that is attacking his Card-friends, that will destroy him if it can, and all those he loves, he throws his magic at the hideous monster with all that he has and thinks, and shouts, and believes, that he _wants – it – out!_

His Circle explodes under his feet, gold upon grey, stars interlocking stars with an ever brighter glow.

_...much in the same way Clow tied elemental forces to his Cards..._

The Circle flares and his power spikes and going completely on instinct, Harry traces the outline of a Card in the air before him, and magic trails his gesture with a fiery, emerald line that hovers like dense smoke, silhouetting the Card.

_...trust your magic to find a way..._

With a shout of fear and fury and sheer determination, Harry repeats his command, hurling his power once again at the monster, to grab it, to drag it, to bind it and bring it and seal it in the Card he is creating.

_...cast it out!..._

It is hard, and painful, and tiring.

The tentacles of filthy darkness fight with all their strength, but all of Harry's Card-friends are helping now, subduing every dark spike that manages to dart away, trapping and binding, pushing and forcing, and Harry's power hammers the tendrils into the smoky shape that is becoming more and more consistent under his steady will.

And in the end, the last wisp of nightmarish darkness is stuffed into the newly created Card and with a triumphant yell, Harry awakens.

His family is there to catch him as he falters and feels ill and heaves the contents of his stomach, shaking helplessly.

They all look beyond exhausted and Harry vaguely realizes that it was their shared energy that allowed his Card-friends to all come out at once; to help him... help him create...

The new Card falls in his lap, small and frail-looking and so frighteningly dangerous, and he gasps at the filthy emotions that it is radiating.

The back of the card is in the beautiful emerald green and gold of all the others he's already changed, but the front is ugly, showing a small, skinny boy with a sad frown and hideous, burning eyes, peeking out of a cupboard door, and tall, looming shadows behind him and over him, hunting him, grasping at him with clawing tentacles, huge and threatening.

Harry is too exhausted to think straight and can only whimper at what he feels from the hideous Card.

“The Hatred,” he names it sadly.

Sakura grasps his hand tightly, sympathetic, eyes filled with pooling tears, that she refuses to shed. Touya's heart constricts when he sees the picture, reminded that this child does know hatred, has felt it on his own skin, when he should never have.

Yue says reluctantly: “You have to put it under the Rule of the Moon or the Sun.” He feels almost ill at the idea and Kerobero's growl isn't at all reassuring, but there is nothing to it.

Harry surprises them, however: he shakes his head sadly an says quietly: “It would only be miserable.”

All make noises of protest and confusion; except Li, and Harry looks up at him with tears in his eyes and finds understanding.

The Chinese boy nods, solemn and sad, and ignores the confusion in the others, gathering up his magic to throw flames at the wretched Card.

It isn't enough, and Harry has to ask The Firey to help, and then lend almost all his power to the Card so that it can enhance Li's magic, and finally Keroberos has to support his Master's effort with his own fire breath, though the poor Guardian isn't very happy at destroying a Card, no matter how ill-conceived. He understand the necessity, however.

Their combined efforts manage to overcome The Hatred at last and its destruction is accompanied by an unnatural scream - a long, dreadful, piercing scream.

The charred remains fall to the floor and Keroberos takes a breath to finish it, but Harry stops him with a gentle, trembling hand on his armour-covered shoulder. The child is wavering and as pale as a ghost, but he stubbornly gets the word out in a raspy voice: “Funeral.”

Sakura understands instantly: “We should do a proper funeral,” she agrees tiredly and the others nod, solemn and sad and wearied.

Then Harry faints at last, exhausted, but as Yue grabs him and lifts him in his arms, he is unconcerned.

It is over.


	13. R for Revolution

 They hold the funeral on a cold late-winter day. Yukito leads Harry in offering incense and The Flower sprouts white chrysanthemums around the corner of the garden they have taken over.

There is sun in the sky and not a cloud in sight, but every colour seems dull and muted somehow, the blues pale, the browns and greens greyed, the white of their formal attire almost sickly.

Yue and Keroberos are both in their true forms. It's the funeral of a Card. It's only right that the Guardians be present.

Harry leans into Touya's side for comfort as Li completes the cremation with discreet solemnity and then The Earthy appears in her woman form, wearing a cape and with her hair in two swirls, to bury the ashes.

It is Sakura who silently marks the place with a small stone slab where she has depicted the kanji for 'peace'.

Tomoyo, splendid in her sober white kimono, records all with her trusty camcorder, while The Snow gently covers everything with a white blanket, hiding from view where The Hatred rests.

And all is silent.

Afterwards, Harry is feeling markedly better.

It naturally takes him several days to recover from the ordeal, but he is soon well enough to return to school. His pallor and thinness are proof enough of his 'illness' and no further inquiries are made about his attendance record, except out of sincere concern.

Touya, too, is welcomed back (with dismaying enthusiasm in the case of the Akizuki nuisance) and if he is still a little sleepy and woozy, nobody remarks too much about it. Mostly because Yuki is glaring the nosey away and the busybodies are too shocked that the genial young man actually _can_ glare to push the matter.

All of them slowly return to the various activities they'd been forced to drop.

Harry has lost his place on the track runners team due to his 'illness', but it doesn't matter too much. Sakura introduces him to roller skating and The Dash is chirpingly happy to help them zoom around the neighbourhood on their rollerblades. Fujitaka is all for it – he thinks Harry needs to be out in the sun more and is forever encouraging him to go see this or that spot or street or park angle or curious shop.

Touya and Yuki are happily busy trying to catch their grades up as the school year is wounding to a close and the dark-haired young man has quickly found two new part-time jobs too, as assistant librarian and as tour guide at the local archaeological museum.

Sakura, much to everybody's delight, is back to being her cheerful, ever-beaming self. She happily organizes trips and outings with her school friends, twirls her baton with exuberance at cheerleading practice and enthusiastically drags Syaoran into all sorts of activities – which, despite his token protests, the boy doesn't mind one bit. Not even when the activity is watching a teddy-bears show.

Tomoyo always trails the pair with her ever-ready camcorder and her beautiful, knowing smile and more often than not, Eriol wiggles his way into their little group. Li is rather disgusted by this, but keeps his silence and merely glares daggers at the other boy, who seems unfazed. Sakura doesn't mind at all. The more the merrier, as the saying goes, and she's determined to be merry indeed!

She doesn't even let the fact that odd occurrences keep happening around her bother her, even if her big brother and the others are more determined than ever to figure out who is targeting her.

Harry especially throws himself into solving the mystery with great energy. But then he is always energetic these days.

Quite likely, it is an after-effect of the boost his magic received when he defeated the Nightmares Bearer.

As his magic reserves are slowly replenished, in fact, it becomes clear that they are... more. Not only larger, but deeper and stronger too.

It's as if before, something was siphoning off a good chunk of his energy, and now that something's gone.

Day after day, Harry feels filled to the brim with energy, tingling, bubbling, almost overflowing.

He can now sustain several Cards out and about at the same time and still, now and then there is just _so much_ magic in him that it spills over. When that happens, it usually results in small accidents - mostly harmless, like turning Sakura's hair neon pink or making Kero's sweets float just out of his reach – but nonetheless odd because he's not using any Card, nor anything like Sakura's staff or Li's talismans; actually he doesn't even really mean to do it. It just happens.

The two Guardians agree that these odd accidents will likely dwindle when he takes over sustaining Yue again, which will happen as soon as he manages to learn how to do it safely.

It is clear that he now has more than enough magic, but it is a tricky thing to switch back again without losing or accidentally absorbing Touya's magic in the process. And although his big brother doesn't care, as long as he and Yuki are safe and well, Harry feels more than guilty enough as it is. He is determined to make things right – all the way through – and return to Touya all the magic he gave up.

Yue agrees wholeheartedly and spends long, patient evenings coaching his Master in the ways of magic and helping him develop the spell he will need for the transfer.

When they feel ready, Yue coerces Kero into monitoring them closely and for once the Sun Guardian takes things seriously. His cat-like eyes are sharp and keen as he focuses his Sensing ability where Harry, Yue and Touya are gathered, bathed in the light of Harry's Circle as they work to sort their magic out, and calls out warnings and directions as needed.

Things end up entangled anyway, but Harry's stubborn and Touya's patient, and when you add Yue's smarts and Yuki's trust, they cannot fail.

Touya's power is restored and Harry's magic flows into Yue as powerful and as refreshing as Clow's ever was.

Touya's magic is in the end slightly less inward bound perhaps – he finds he can affect some elements of the world around him now, which has its uses, as he discovers when he almost accidentally knocks the irritating Akizuki away by redirecting the flow of a nearby fountain – and Harry perhaps gets a weird feeling of premonition now and then – whose main effect is that his maths grade improve dramatically now that surprise tests don't really surprise him anymore – and most of all, Yue is perhaps a little more aware of Touya then is usual or normal – but with the way things are progressing between Yukito and him, it's not exactly a problem, on the contrary.

As Sakura cheerfully declares, all is well.

Meanwhile however the girl and Syaoran continue to be plied by absurd magical attacks.

Once it's a horde of snowmen pelting them with snowballs – and poor Kero ends up trapped inside a giant snowbank, looking extremely foolish; then it's a book that sucks Sakura in – which Li has the good sense to take straight to Harry, who promptly enlists The Move's help to find her and teleport her out; then a haunted basketball that seems to be warping space inside the school, trapping Tomoyo - which Sakura tricks without even using magic, but simple logic, unweaving her wool scarf and using the threads to mark her patient way through the odd maze until the two friends are reunited.

Kero doesn't leave Sakura's side anymore, just like Yue is almost always with Harry, and both Guardians do their best to help all children (except Tomoyo, who doesn't have a magical bone in her body) hone their magical talents.

The Moon Guardian is a good if demanding teacher, and very knowledgeable; Kero, while rather disorganized and chaotic, is more fun and trains their reflexes well by means of sheer unpredictability. They are all progressing by leaps and bounds.

All that's left now is figuring out who's after Sakura... and why.

Many an evening is spent debating the issue and speculating wildly. Touya maintains that that Eriol brat is the most likely culprit and while no-one can positively deny it, they cannot prove it either. Yue and Keroberos are still struggling with their suspicions about Clow's presence by themselves.

The younger ones do a mighty good job of shooting down each other's ideas.

For example, Sakura might exclaim hopefully: “We should go to them and ask them to stop!” eliciting a snort from Li: “And how, exactly, are we to find them?” to which Harry might reply grumpily: “There should be some magic that would let us find someone! How come nobody's invented something so useful?” thus drawing an unhappy retort from Li: “There is a way, but I would need something of theirs to use it,” and a sagging comment from Sakura: “Oh, but that's impossible...”

Most of the time, their reasoning goes in circles and Harry ends up kicking the chair he's sitting on moodily, while Li's scowl grows and Sakura's head falls more and more dejectedly on her hands.

This status quo is broken, quite unexpectedly, by The Mirror.

The beautiful green-haired girl is shy and a little embarrassed and she stands before Harry twirling nervously the ends of the ribbons Touya gifted to her. But she's also very determined to deliver her message.

“The Dream is upset,” she announces, shaking her little mirror at Harry rather balefully. “She's hurt because you're avoiding her and you're ignoring her message.”

“Wha...?” gapes Harry, completely flabbergasted.

The Mirror joins her hand cutely in front of her chest and bows low: “Please do something about it!”

She vanishes back to her Card form and Harry takes out The Dream, contemplating uncomfortably the picture of the exotic-looking woman with the complicated headdress blindfolding her eyes.

He's not been avoiding her, it's just that... he... and... he's not... he hasn't... oh, darn!... he has!... he has been sort of avoiding it, but not entirely on purpose. It's just that... well...

“Well?” asks Kero impatiently when it doesn't seem like Harry's moving. “What are you waiting for?”

Yue transforms fully, his hair, wings and clothes gleaming in the reddish light of sunset. He crosses his arms calmly: “We'll guard you.”

Harry sighs and sinks onto the couch. “The Dream?” he calls softly.

The Card feels like she's pouting and seems determined to give him the silent treatment. With another sigh, Harry sends a tendril of his power to probe and coax her, gentle but stern.

Seamlessly he finds himself flying through cool, welcoming darkness towards the arc of the Tsukimine Shrine. Three figures stand atop it, a smaller one framed by two that remind him strongly of his own Guardians – a tall angel-like and a huge leopard-like silhouette.

He has the strange sensation that he's already seen this...

The way the central figure is flickering between the image of a robe-clad man and that of a boy in a cape is oddly familiar. But where has he seen it before?

And this feeling...

It's so familiar, and at the same time, he can't place it. It's driving him mad.

None of the three are looking at him, in fact they're engrossed with something down below them, so Harry takes his time observing them as best he can in the nightly darkness as he drifts closer.

He's almost close enough to touch them when the nagging feeling of recognition blooms into understanding: they feel like the Cards did before he changed them!

He feels triumph at the realization, even if he doesn't grasp the implications yet, and The Dream sends him an impression of smug satisfaction. Clearly, this was the message she wanted to offer.

The dreamscape starts dissolving around him and he tries to crane his neck in the last instants, past the edge of the arc, for his curiosity is piqued.

He barely manages to catch a glimpse of what the three mysterious figures are watching so intently: the brown field behind Tomnoeda's little church and on it, two small figures jumping and darting around and slashing, attempting to avoid the vicious stabs of crazed animated vines. With a gasp, he recognizes Li-senpai and Sakura-nee-chan!

He wakes up with a sudden cry: “Sakura's in trouble! Behind the church! I must...!”

He stumbles to his feet but Yue stops him gently: “Take a breath.”

Keroberos is already transforming in his true form: “I'm on it!” he roars and launches himself out of the window.

“Wait! You damn overgrown cat, you need to be hidden!” Yue calls after him, alarmed and annoyed.

Harry has the presence of mind to whip out The Erase: “Quick! Follow him, trace his steps, nobody can see him!”

The small imp in a yellow-and-white-patterned court jester's outfit nods and dissolves into a grey mist before it darts away and Harry collapses back onto the couch.

“That couldn't possibly be the message,” says Yue softly. “Not if it's happening right now... The Dream has been wanting to pass it on for a while, if I'm not mistaken.”

“N-no...” admits Harry, panting a little. “They were watching... and I saw... but they... and I... and...”

“Calm down,” advises Yue. “Start at the beginning.”

Harry takes a deep breath and sits straighter. He quickly recounts his dream, and as he tells about his realizations, he feels like the pieces of a puzzle are fitting together.

“It's Clow Reed... it must be... that's why he feels like the Cards used to, he's the one who created them! His magic was all over them – _in_ them! But he has a new form, I think... it's the only thing that makes sense... that's why you haven't recognized him, that's why I can see him as a boy but sometimes as a man too!... And the way he was watching Sakura-nee-chan... he must be the one who's been attacking her! It all fits!”

Yue is shaken.

He can't deny or confute what his Master says, no matter how much he wishes to: his own observation all point to the same thing.

Clow…

He closes his eyes, pained, and tries to shove away the turmoil of hurt and confusion that is forever threatening to overwhelm him when he thinks of his former Master and of what it means if he's really there, but hasn't so much as contacted them. As for the other two figures in the dream... he doesn't want to contemplate them. If his suspicions are right, he might not be able to bear it.

Kero returns with Sakura after they have vanquished the vicious vines and walked the Li home. The girl claims his arrival was what brought back confidence to her and the Li and that's why they managed to set the deadly vines on fire at long last; but as she goes about having a shower and a change of clothes, the Sun Guardian sulks and complains and rants to Yue and Harry because he did not, in fact, do anything.

“My powers were, like, blocked! She was in danger, and I could do nothing! That's just so not right! I was in my true form! My powers should have been at their full potential! But my fire had no effect! What in the name of magic is going on?”

It isn't the first time something like this happens. There have been times when both Kero and Yue were unable to move, or couldn't change between their true and borrowed forms, and times when their attacks and shields proved ineffective. They have carefully avoided discussing the implications of this – Yue certainly didn't feel ready to admit what it likely meant – but with evidence piling upon evidence...

“Further confirmation,” mutters Yue grimly and Kero stops short to look at him sharply.

The Moon Guardian sighs despondently and quickly sums up the conclusions Harry's come to. “This is further confirmation,” he finishes. “The only ones that can stop us are our current Master... and Clow Reed.”

And it's just like him to think up something so ridiculous and dangerous at the same time. Making the Guardians completely useless... oh, yes, he'd think that a great laugh.

Bitterness is rising in Yue and he is powerless to stop it. And along with it, rises a burning desire to demand some _answers._

Kero is more surprised by the fact that Yue is admitting any of this than by the news itself. Still, when they get to the part about Clow likely being behind the attacks on Sakura – a logical conclusion, at this point, as how else would he have blocked Kero's powers? - he gapes, looking between the Moon Guardian and Harry: “But... but... why?”

“I don't know,” Harry shakes his head desolately. Then he adds, determined: “But I'm sure going to find out!”

When Touya comes home from his shift at the Museum and finds The Mirror in Harry's form playing a board game with Sakura, he narrows his eyes, upset, then closes them in amused exasperation as the silly Card blushes and giggles.

“All right!” he sighs. “Where did they go off to, now?”

Harry and his Guardians have reached an isolated mansion, drawn there by Keroberos' attuned Sensing skills. It has timber frames on evidence, standing out against the white plaster in a very medieval way, and it is cloaked in Magic of the Dark.

When they enter a darkened sitting room to be confronted with the three figures from Harry's dream, Yue feels his breath catch painfully as he is struck by the force of Clow's familiar presence... and two others that he doesn't recognize but who feel eerily like…like…

Like Keroberos. And him.

Like a Sun and a Moon Guardians.

Clow's _new_ Guardians.

The mere thought hurts enough that he has trouble swallowing.

The black panther-like Guardian has pointy ears, enlarged wings, and blue gems in the middle of his forehead as well as into the silver butterfly armour he wears on his chest. By the calm gaze in his slit pupils and the refined way he holds himself, Yue guesses instantly that he might be Kerobero's replacement, but the two are nothing alike.

The one who took his place is, to Yue's shock, that Akizuki woman – and somehow, she manages to be twice as irritating as usual just by being there with that self-satisfied cat-like smile on her face.

Harry doesn't pay them much attention. He is focused on the central figure.

The boy, with blue hair and large, squared-off glasses that don't conceal his grey, amused eyes, is sitting in a deep burgundy armchair, high-backed, that dwarfs his small body. He sports a small smile, so serene it's almost mocking.

Harry clenches his fists, unsure of the situation but not liking it one bit.

Keroberos is muttering his shock over and over and seems unable to decide whether he wants to turn tail and forget, or pounce on the strange boy and demand an explanation.

Yue can tell that it's not Clow there, not exactly – too young by far, and too pale, and holding himself just a little too formally, speaking just a little too softly. But the resemblance is uncanny. That small, almost silent, laugh, and that powerful, cool aura, and the secret knowing gleam in his eyes. It's him and it isn't and Yue feels too many things at once and it's like chocking.

Mostly, though, he's seething.

“Clow,” he hisses and he doesn't know himself if he's longing or disgusted.

“Yue,” the boy who is and isn't Clow greets softly, sounding faintly amused, “and Keroberos. I wondered if I would see you too soon...” as Harry's Guardians stiffen, troubled, his eyes rest on Harry and he smiles condescendingly. “And you must be Sakura's little brother.”

That snaps Harry right out of his uncertainty and he snarls belligerently. “Why are you so obsessed with my sister?” he yells accusingly. “Who the hell are you, anyway?”

The patronising little smile doesn't waver: “I might not be Clow Reed anymore, but I carry his memories along with his powers,” is the astounding answer, delivered in a softly mystical, fatalistic tone. “Is it not natural that I do my best to see his plans through?”

“Plans,” says Yue flatly.

“Wait, what? As in, WHAT?” bellows Keroberos, who's still stuck at the 'not Clow _anymore_ ' part. “What the hell do you mean, you've got his memories and powers! What... how... why...”

“Yes, I would rather have those answers myself,” spits out Yue through gritted teeth.

But there is only silence from the strange boy and isn't that just typical? Clow never said anything unless it was convenient for him. If they had any lingering doubts about his identity, they are lost at this point.

“It is rather troublesome, that you have found out about me,” the boy sighs at length, looking for all the world like a put-out parent of naughty children.

Yue almost snaps there and then. After all he's put them through... all the grief, and the loneliness, and the hurt... and forcing them to accept his loss only to reappear right after... that's all he has to say?

“Haven't changed a bit, have you?” snarls Yue, bitterly. And somehow, what would have been a good thing a year earlier is now most definitely _not_.

The sun has fallen and it's almost as dark now beyond the windows as it is inside the room and the Moon Guardian is weary in a way he isn't very willing to analyse just then. He looks at the smug woman leaning so casually on the back of his former Master's armchair and feels the hurt of his rejection knife through him with an almost physical pain. He doesn't even know how he should react. This is too much.

Keroberos, too, is hurt beyond words, but unlike the Moon Guardian, he's always been flexible in thought, able to change quickly and easily as time and the situation demands. Yue tends to be very set in his ways. He may change, but he stays the same – and so his loyalties are still unresolved. Kero, on the other hand, has no such qualms.

Sakura's great, that big meanie of her big brother has grown on him, Tomoyo's absolutely brilliant, even Syaoran isn't half bad, for a Li that is. And most important of all, Harry wants them and loves them and really, who needs this badly made copy of Clow anymore?

Besides, the Sun Guardian is more than able and willing to lay the blame of this whole mess where it belongs: at Clow's feet, for being an insensitive idiot! Selfish to the very end... and now he's come back just to make fun of them. Typical.

No, Keroberos is rather ready to leave – and good riddance to this fake Clow and to his Guardians that will never be as awesome as he and Yue.

But Yue needs answers. He needs to know... at the very least, he needs to know one thing: “If you were going to reincarnate, why did you make us choose a new Master?” and he hates how his voice sounds weak and pleading, but he cannot help it. He likes Harry, he's happy with him and their odd little family, but still... still...

The Clow reincarnation doesn't answer, though, just gives him that small, awful, knowing smile. Yue grimaces bitterly. How he knows that smile. Small and smug and carrying the message, loud and clear, that you're nothing but puppets in the play he holds the strings of. It used to be reassuring, this feeling that he had all in hand, but now... Damned, two-faced manipulator. How he has missed him... and now, it's just not what he wants anymore – in fact he hates being on the receiving end of his twisted games.

“Answer – my – questions,” growls Harry. His eyes have darkened to a tempestuous, forest green and his face is set in a threatening frown as he takes a very deliberate step towards the sitting boy who isn't a boy.

Eriol gives him a very condescending look and opens his mouth, but what he would see is lost because that's when Touya makes his dramatic entrance, scowl firmly in place.

He has a suspended instant to take on the unexpected scene before Akizuki lunges for him with a loud screech of “Toooooyaaaaa!”

She bounces through the room and Harry, furious, promptly snaps to his big brother: “They're the ones who've been attacking Sakura-nee-chan!”

Touya's reaction is instantaneous: his expression becomes positively frightening. _Nobody_ messes with his little sister. All bets are off!

Right as the damn annoyance leaps at him, his fist swings around with all the force of his fierce outrage and smashes her nose squarely.

He's put all of his body behind it, so much so that the momentum forces him to take a step forward, and she's thrown back flying with a scream. She lands in a tangled heap, hurt and dazed.

Eriol's shouts in outrage and stands up, glaring at Touya, but the young man coolly gazes back, not in the least intimidated: “I've been wanting to do it for ages.”

And suddenly Yue laughs. Because, really. He might have been too stupid to notice before, but things have changed – changed for the better, even – and Clow isn't a part of his life anymore and that isn't so bad a thing when he's got Touya and Harry and yes, even Keroberos, and in any case, he's been wanting to smack that Akizuki a good one himself and Yukito is crowing approval inside his mind and – well!

He laughs, and if there is a tinge of hysterical sadness in it, it isn't very noticeable.

His tinning, crystalline laugh is such a rare thing still that all turn to listen for a long moment, wide-eyed.

Except for Eriol: a light flares from the boy, who is holding his hand out commandingly. Clow's easily recognizable Circle blazes under his feet and he calls up a long staff, taller than he is, with golden spikes of different lengths in the guise of rays upon its knob.

“This is enough,” he states authoritatively. “It is not yet time to reveal myself and it would be... inconvenient... if you were to enlighten Sakura.”

Touya advances on him instantly: “Why are you so obsessed with my little sister?” he demands, eyes flashing.

The knob of Eriol staff fires up with red light and even as he starts murmuring some inane apology, Harry throws The Shield up in the air, Yue's own barrier bursting into existence at the same time and smoothly reinforcing it. The red bolt Eriol throws shatters against it and dissipates and the blast of light is quickly followed by Harry summoning The Freeze and The Storm, both spoiling for a fight.

Eriol's Guardians snap into action and they are between their Master and his opponents in a flash.

“If it comes to a battle, then my adversary is Yue!” Akizuki shrieks and in flurry of reds and purples, she transforms into her true form, huge butterfly wings fluttering from her back and crimson hair falling straight from two Chinese buns and over a long, fitting black dress. Yue falls instantly in a fighting stance and they inadvertently mirror each other in forming large crystals of energy in their palms, sapphire blue for him, ruby red for her.

Kero roars deeply, readying himself to face the black panther

“Harry,” says Touya sharply. “Give me something to work with!”

In a flash, The Rain and The Fiery are dispatched to 'help big brother' and they quickly create water puddles and little fires that Touya's magic can latch onto and manipulate, even as they ready themselves to fight as well, and Harry is already reaching for more of his Card-friends.

But Eriol is in shock: “You... are using Clow Cards!” he exclaims in a squeaking voice, as if he can't even comprehend such a fact. Then he clenches his fists around his long staff and frowns fiercely: “That can't be! How could Sakura let you have them?”

“Ah!” exclaims Touya, suddenly enlightened. “You are acting under the misapprehension that Sakura is the Mistress of the Cards.” By the way his narrowed eyes flashes, this is far from a good enough reason for targeting his little sister; but Eriol is too lost in his perplexity to notice Touya's ire.

“Of course she is!” he protests. “That's how it's meant to be!”

“Meant to...?” asks Yue, momentarily distracted from his opponent. “Are you trying to say that you knew the outcome of the Final Judgement from the very start? Then what was the point of assigning me my role?”

His eyes are narrowed and the anger is back, anger and outrage – and less and less regret for a former Master that maybe has never valued them after all, much less cared for them.

“Besides, you were wrong,” sniffs Kero, shooting him a hostile gaze. “Sakura-chan didn't win the Judgement.”

“But it was expected...” protests Eriol feebly.

“Unexpected stuff happens all the time,” points out Kero none-too-politely.

“Was it all about fatalism, then? Your death, our pain, us having to find a new Master, you making replacement Guardians... Was it all just an effort to make things go the way you'd seen them? Is that it?” asks Yue, and the volume and distress in his voice increase with each question. “Did you put us through all this without a better reason than _that?”_

Harry grabs his Moon Guardian's hand gently and squeezes it, but his eyes are burning a hole into the boy who is and isn't Clow: “You do well, keeping your mouth shut,” he says with deadly quietness. His expression is too mature for a nine-years-old by far: the expression of someone who knows by painful experience what it feels to be unwanted. “Because nothing you could tell would ever be a good enough answer. Nothing.”

“You don't understand...” tries Eriol but Harry cuts him off with sudden fury: “No, _you_ don't understand, you selfish!... You _left_ them. You abandoned them to fend for themselves. You told them to move on, and find a new family. Well, they've done that – and still you aren't satisfied!”

“I didn't...” frowns the other magician.

“You told them they were free to choose, but now that they've chosen you don't accept it! Were they only free as long as they did exactly what you wanted? Then maybe you shouldn't have thrown them away!”

“I only did what was best for my Cards...”

“Wrong!” hisses Harry triumphantly, his anger at the other magician boiling hot in his veins. “They aren't _your_ Cards! I transformed them... reincarnated them. They are no longer yours to play with!” he shouts that last at the top of his lungs and despite not taking their eyes off their opponent, both Yue and Kero smile slightly at hearing this.

It goes for the two of them as well.

The unfriendly, lazy voice of Eriol's Sun Guardian interjects: “You can't seriously think to call yourself Master of the Cards, kid. You haven't even transformed them all,” he says dismissively.

Harry opens his mouth to retort in indignation, but closes it without a sound. A thought has just struck him.

Calming slightly, he searches among his emerald-backed Cards until he finds the two that still sport Clow's red.

The Light and The Dark.

The last ones.

He's always felt some reluctance from them. He wasn't the one to capture or befriend them and they are a bit standoffish. They also feel much more powerful than the other Cards. And less friendly.

“The first Cards under our jurisdiction...” murmurs Kero.

“They are not meant to be yours,” states Eriol with blind belief.

Harry ignores him, lost in his contemplation of the two powerful Cards. He didn't want to force them if they were disinclined to interact with him and so, due to the unwillingness he could always sense from them, he's never even called them out.

He does so now, however, and Eriol steps forth, reaching for them, but before anyone can say a thing the two regal women draped in black and white respectively turn to Harry and speak in unison: “We weren't very sure about you at first.”

Everybody freezes to listen.

The Light, shaking graciously her flowing white hair, explains: “We did not like the darkness ensconced inside you... we were worried it might affect you...”

The Dark goes on in her caressing voice: “And you are so young... inexperienced... we feared you wouldn't be a good Master...”

They conclude together, supremely serene: “You proved us wrong.”

“What!” yelps Eriol from somewhere, but Harry's attention is fully focused on the two powerful Cards floating before him.

He gulps, then steels himself: “Then... then, may I change you?” he asks, and is happy that his voice sounds clear and strong, despite the fluttering in his stomach.

They incline their head regally and murmur: “If you have the power.”

He doesn't even have to think, he just offers them his hands – one each – and as they take them in theirs, his Circle flares brightly. The queenly women dissolve in blinding light and deep darkness and the slender hands in his palms morph into two twin Cards.

But they still have Clow's golden Circle emblazoned upon their red backs and Harry can feel the resistance his power encounters. They aren't actively trying to oppose him, but they are markedly more powerful than the rest of his Card-friends. He is concentrating every last particle of his mind and magic to claim them, but for a terrible instant, he fears that it won't be enough...

But then a cool touch on his left shoulder pours a flow of tingling, sparkly Moon magic into him and a brush of fur against his right hip floods him with hot, sweet Sun magic. His Guardians are there and to accept their power and weave it into his own is as easy and as natural as breathing.

And slowly... slowly... the two regal Cards are enveloped in a soft wave of his own, cool darkness and when it parts, like a fluttering curtain, their backs sport a golden pattern of interlocking many-pointed stars enclosed in a circle on a background of beautiful emerald green.

“You did it!” crows Kero, jumping in the air in excitement.

“Impossible!” echoes Eriol faintly. Harry shoots him a very smug look.

“Well done,” praises Yue softly.

All the Cards, from first to last, shoot up in the air and make a circle around their new Master, even The Mirror who was in Touya's pocket; feelings of joy and smugness and contentment radiate from them as they make a lap of honour around him and then pile in a tidy deck in his outstretched palms.

Harry's grin is ear-splitting.

“I don't believe it!” comments the black panther with his jaw hanging.

“Yeah, yeah, great job,” says Touya, his angry gaze still on Eriol. The little fires that are still dancing under his fingertips flare up threateningly against the boy who has been Clow once. “Now, troublemaking brat, you better _leave_. Because if I catch you messing with my family again, I'll make sure you won't cause people trouble with you magic _ever again_. Are we clear?”

“But Sakura was destined to be...” stammers Eriol, still stuck in his own conviction.

“I – don't – care!” enunciates Touya balefully. “Fate is a strong force, but not immutable. The Future isn't set in stone. What use would premonition be, if we could do nothing about what we foresee? Our choices always have the power to change what will be. Always!”

Eriol shakes his head in mute denial, but Touya has grown tired of him. “Let's go,” he tosses to the others and Yue, Harry and Kero promptly hurry after him, the Cards held securely in Harry's grasp as they go.

Touya's grumblings about troublemaking brats with too little sense for the amount of magic they wield continue all the way back.

Harry feels happy and content and _complete_ and the only thing that can mar his joy is the faint bitterness and sadness he still senses from his Guardians. But it's fading and he knows just the thing to make it go away for good.

“Sakura-nee-chan!” he calls out cheerfully as soon as he gets home.

“Oh, good, I was so worried about you...”

“Let's have a party!” he interrupts her with a big grin.

“Yeah!” shouts Kero, instantly cheered. “With lots of sweets! Lots and lots and lots! I'm going to eat a storm!”

Harry smiles at the little winged bear's exuberance: The Sweet will make sure he's all right before the night is over. Especially if Harry can talk The Shadow into playing video-games with him. The one time the Card did before, it proved surprisingly good at it.

A little more worried, he leaves the kitchen where Sakura is getting swept along in Kero's enthusiasm and looks for his Moon Guardian. He stops just outside the door however when he sees him with Touya and his smile turns soft. His big brother is taking care of everything there.

Good.

That means he's free to... With a mischievous grin, he calls out The Little, The Change and The Float. “Here's what we're going to do...” he whispers conspiratorially.

When a tiny, dainty Keroberos with short light brown hair and a cute pink dress floats to the sitting room in a rage, attacking the top of a sniggering Harry's head with minuscule fists and shrilly threatening retribution, while in the background, a just as tiny Sakura is freaking out about having paws and wings and a big round head, even Yue lets himself fall into merry chuckles.

The next day is greeted by a sun-filled cobalt blue sky witnessing the oddest game of basketball ever.

Both sides have over a dozen players, there are no less than four balls on the court at any given time and no-one is too worried about a little thing like common rules: slipping the ball past an opponent with a strong gust of wind or dissolving into a bank of fog to snatch it from a disoriented adversary is perfectly accepted.

Of course, it is also rather hard to cheat when the referee is a pan-scale balancing a sun and a moon, that just so happens to be able to determine whether someone is lying or not: nothing gets past The Libra.

The Fight and The Shot are predictably good as shooting guards and quite unexpectedly, so is The Sleep, who manages to consistently hit long range shots and gloats about it every time, prancing around in mid-air until The Arrow, who never had much patience, rounds her short bow on the periwinkle fairy, looking absolutely adorable in her bluish-purple outfit and pudding basin haircut, but scaring more than just the Card she's aiming her lethal glare – and arrows – at.

Touya, who is point guard for his team, goes head to head with The Wood, who has been enlarged by an obliging The Big for the occasion and not only looks spectacular with her long green leaf-like hair and a tiara made of leaves, but is also a very tough defender behind her sweet smile.

The Storm and The Sand create more confusion than anything else, but it's all in good fun; Li's agility and quick reflexes serve him well, though it is his almost flawless teamwork with The Fiery that makes them dangerous on the court; a huge, armoured Keroberos and the Thunder Beast are, of course, on opposing teams, though they spend more time scuffling than contributing to the game.

And Yuki, naturally, dominates the game, shooting, passing, dribbling, faking and generally handling the ball with smirking confidence.

Harry is having the time of his life, and by virtue of knowing little of the game, he's able to do a little bit of everything on the court, as someone teaches him or as it strikes his fancy.

Sakura, The Mirror, The Glow, The Snow and The Flower are the most enthusiastic cheerleaders any team could hope for – even if it is unclear which side they're cheering for, especially after The Dark has very generously provided a little bit of night in the sitting room, allowing The Create to fulfil a starry-eyed Tomoyo's dream of matching costumes for all of them.

It's a glorious day, and it ends even more gloriously when The Sweet transforms the water Touya draws from the garden hose into ice-cream for everyone able or willing to have some – and if The Erase and The Illusion have their job cut out for them in keeping them all hidden, neither Card minds.

As for Eriol, he frowns and pouts and wonders how everything could have gone so wrong when Clow had predicted everything perfectly. He just doesn't understand.

He returns to England full of disappointment and he locks himself up in his manor to pout some more.

Then Akizuki, who keeps an eye for him on both the magical and the non-magical community of England, comes back with the magical newspaper and enough excitement to bounce off the walls, because the wizarding world is in a panic over the disappearance of one Harry Potter, hero and saviour, and the photograph published – though how they got it Eriol cannot fathom – is of a younger – no older than five, really – but unmistakable Master of the Cards.

Same green eyes, same unruly hair, and Eriol smiles in vindication.

Of course.

You cannot cheat Fate... but... there isn't only one 'Chosen' at any given time. Harry Potter has a destiny as powerful as Sakura's own: no wonder the two got mixed up.

Hmm, perhaps it was even meant to be...

It doesn't take long, in the great scheme of things, for him to ferret out the Prophecy – power the Dark Lord knows not. Hmm, that certainly covers the Cards. That would explain why Sakura isn't as powerful as he'd foreseen too... She isn't _yet._

It is likely that the Book wouldn't have been found if Harry Potter, with his own destiny weighing down on him, hadn't stumbled upon the area it was in. But Harry Potter needed a 'power the Dark Lord knows not', and he was given the Cards... _temporarily._.. until he fulfils his own destiny. Which, Eriol reflects, given the disparity between his skills and experience and those of his fated enemy, is likely to mean a heroic, self-sacrificing death... and after that, the Cards would need a new Master – or rather Mistress: _Sakura_ , just like Clow predicted.

Yes, everything makes sense to him now.

It is too bad he was caught so off-guard that he rather alienated the Kinomoto family somewhat. He will have to do something about it sooner or later. As well as devise another scheme to help Sakura along her destined path, as she isn't likely to fall for the same mischief again...

In the meanwhile, he writes to Clow's old friend Nicholas. The Alchemist won't have a problem believing his reincarnation and he's the quickest way to get an introduction to the famous Albus Dumbledore. He is sure the powerful wizard will be relieved to find out where his little saviour is hiding.

Time to set things back onto their proper track...


	14. R for Reiteration

When a child who looks barely old enough to enter third year claims to have important information for him, Albus Dumbledore is at first rather sceptical. However this 'Eriol' comes recommended by his old friend Nicholas and it just won't do to ignore the elderly Alchemist.

His suspicions about the claimed 'reincarnation' being a hoax are somewhat lessened by the blue-haired, bespectacled boy's mannerisms. This is clearly an adult in a child's body. The amount of power oozing from what looks like a black winged plush toy but is clearly so much more makes him cautious, too. It is a subtle but very real reminder that when magic is involved, one should never judge by looks alone.

When Eriol delivers his news, all his doubts vanish like snow in the sun. Albus could kiss him.

Harry Potter is found at last!

All his efforts to locate the valuable child and return him to the Dursleys after those fools had lost him have so far been in vain and only the force of will developed over a century of hardships has prevented his falling into a panic attack when neither magical nor muggle means have proved able to find the regrettably essential Boy-Who-Lived.

Files sealed – even from _him_! - for the child's 'protection'! Location spells confused by too many magic signatures blending! The blood wards so painstakingly erected, that would have offered some protection to young Harry in his defeat of Voldemort, _gone_ , beyond chance of remaking! Worst of all, the Boy-Who-Lived being raised out of his country, without any sense of his duties in the coming war!

Over the years his hope has waned and left him a weary, saddened man waiting for disaster to strike. Losing the Boy-Who-Lived might well have been one of the hardest blows in his long life.

While the option of forcing a mere boy in the confrontation Fate has preordained for him was not one that he enjoyed - he always feels horrible when for the good of the many he is forced to sacrifice the one - it was still a preferable solution to the thousands who will die and suffer otherwise. Harry abandoning the fight means that his homeland is headed straight into devastation by the dark.

That must not happen. It must not!

There was nothing to it, though... Many people see him as an idealist, and he is, but he is also quite experienced and knows when to pull off a useless effort. That doesn't mean that seeing the only hope of the British wizarding world fade through his fingers has been easy.

But now!

The old Headmaster can feel hope returning, so powerful it makes him giddy.

Harry Potter is found at last!

All is not lost: thanks to the strange boy who isn't a boy he now knows where the child he so desperately needs is being hidden and better still, they are in time to retrieve him and get him to Hogwarts with his destined class. Once young Harry is there, all will be easy and Albus has no doubt that he will be able to teach him the role he must, simply must, play.

He has to hurry, though. There isn't much time before the enrolment deadline closes. Luckily Japan has no magical schools, as they believe in the old-fashioned, outdated, Master-Apprentice bond too strongly, so he won't have to compete with a rival institute.

Clapping his hands with sudden energy, Albus sets his ICW contacts to good use to get a portkey to Tomoeda, Japan, post-haste. Along the way, he grabs a protesting Severus Snape who has some very handy pendants enchanted with translation charms, to help him with acquiring exotic potions ingredients, and therefore, willing or not, is going to accompany him. Albus is quite good at ignoring the younger man's grumbles anyway.

They arrive in front of the cosy-looking house Eriol has indicated on a Friday afternoon, looking completely out of place in the neat muggle neighbourhood.

Upstairs, Sakura is just finishing getting ready for an outing with her girl-friends. A new parlour has opened next to the Aquarium and they're all eager to try their sundaes.

She hasn't changed much in the almost two years since her little brother became the Master of the Cards, at least not outwardly. She is maybe a little taller, but still her energetic and cheerful self, still as fond of athletics, still as clumsy and naïve most of the time; her eyes are still as green and her beaming smile as charming. Only her magical powers and knowledge have grown.

As she rummages in her drawers for a hair ribbon that goes with her pink shirt, she spares a little smile and a fond caress for the Clow Book that is still there. However it no longer looks like it did when she first found it. Now it is a lovely pink, with a winged star emblem on its cover and Sakura's own name in a golden scroll above it.

It has been this way ever since she made her first Card.

Sakura raises her gaze to glance outside the window. She isn't seeing the familiar landscape, however, but the face of a dear, dear friend.

Deep, amber eyes, short brown hair and that smile that isn't ever a full smile, but makes his gaze soften and shine... She sighs.

Syaoran has returned to Hong Kong shortly after Eriol himself left, but not before he told her how he felt about her. Simply, undemandingly, as if it was the most natural thing in the world and nothing should change for it.

_“I'm... really glad that I was able to meet you... You really had so many things I didn't have... I... like you...”_

His quiet voice is often with her these days, playing from her memory a dozen times a day, but those words are the ones that warm her heart the most.

She still can't believe how hopelessly she has behaved back then, just standing there in that corner of the Penguin King Park, too stunned to answer. He had seemed content to let her know and leave without fanfare, but she... she had been almost unable to absorb the words. It had taken the help of all her friends and family to overcome the shock and realize that she, too, cared for him very deeply.

She had spent so long just turning the thought of him over and over in her head... the way he had always been there for her... the way he had always helped her so much... how he was so serious and a hard worker and so skilled and how he knew so much... how he was leaving... maybe never to come back...

She still remembers well the moment when all of her confusing feelings had seemed to grow too big for her heart to hold and had erupted in a cascade of sparkling golden stars...

And then, a most amazing thing had happened.

All that she had felt for Syaoran... all that she had wished to tell him... all that she had longed for... had seemed to coalesce and gather and a Circle had flared under her feet: her own, the one that first formed when she used her Magic of the Star for the very first time, at the Final Judgement.

She had closed her eyes, overcome, and when she'd opened them, a Card had been there, hovering gently before her.

She lifts the pink cover of the Book now and smiles at it where it lays.

It is exactly the size of all the other Cards, but its back, rather than red like Clow's or green like Harry's, is a cheerful pink, as is the impression of her own Circle on it, with the exception of the golden central star.

As for its front... it is emblazoned with a heart with wings.

The Hope...

“When we feel bad about something, that's the only thing we need. If we don't have it, we'll never be able to do anything difficult,” she murmurs, exactly as she did when she named it.

It had been such a surprise to her family!

Kero-chan's jaw had dropped nearly to the ground and even Yue-san had looked impressed.

“We have always known you have the potential to be as powerful as Clow one day,” he had told her, shocking her. “I suppose this is your first step.”

Harry had been enchanted: “It is so pretty!” he'd exclaimed over and over.

They'd wanted to celebrate – even Touya had smiled at her and offered to cook shrimp noodles, her favourite.

She, however, had suddenly felt like crying. Syaoran was leaving and her sudden realization of how important he was for her had made the fact that she hadn't even said goodbye seem twice as terrible.

Thankfully, she had wonderful, wonderful siblings. Well... she had a wonderful little brother, at any rate. Touya had done nothing but grumble about brats taking away from him what they had no business taking and the unfairness of inevitability, which in her opinion was just her big brother being strange again; but Harry had offered the help of his Card-friends and between The Dash and The Time, she had at least made it to the airport in time to give Syaoran the teddy bear she’d made.

His promise to come back for good as soon as he is through with his duties in Hong Kong is what puts a brighter smile on her face most days now. Letters and phone calls are all well and good, but...

As for the Book, which, if she were to be honest, she had almost forgotten about after the Cards had gone to Harry, it was already changed when she'd come home and Harry's Guardians had been at a loss to explain it.

“Should she put it under the Rule of the Moon or the Sun?” had asked Harry, who had still been curious and fascinated by her Card, remembering what Yue had told him after the creation of The Hatred.

“That is a precaution in case something happens to the Master, so that the Cards won't be left on their own. They couldn't survive in that case after all, so the Guardians take over the duty,” had explained Yue gently. “However as Sakura doesn't have Guardians yet...”

“Yet?” she'd blinked, surprised.

Yue had shrugged gracefully: “Clow actually created most of the Cards before us. You might be able to create your own Guardians someday... maybe...”

The idea had somewhat disturbed her, but she'd put it aside for the time being and turned to one of her best friends instead: “Kero-chan, in the meanwhile, will _you_ take this Card under you protection?” she had asked, huge green eyes pleadingly burning into his and hands clasped under her chin in supplication.

Keroberos had shot an alarmed gaze at his Master, who was silently laughing at his predicament and who had returned his look with a challenging one that seemed to say: “Go on, then, if you can deny her...”

The winged teddy-bear had sighed and smiled a little before turning to his true form, a huge paw hovering over the brand new, pink Card, that had been enveloped by a gentle glow. "Card made by Sakura, under the jurisdiction of the Sun Guardian, answer to my call if ever the Mistress is absent from you," he had said solemnly. After a few moments, the glow had dulled, and it was done.

Sakura smiles fondly and almost starts saying “Kero-chan, do you remember...” before she recalls that the very special plush-toy isn't there and sighs a little.

Touya and Yukito graduating from High School had been a tricky moment: the first in which Yue and Yukito's interest ran contrary to each other. It wouldn't have been fair for Yue to prevent Yukito from going to college after all, but it wouldn't be fair for Yukito to prevent the Moon Guardian from doing his duty towards Harry either.

Kero-chan solved the problem rather quickly by offering to stay with Harry at all times, so that Yue can afford to be elsewhere. After all, his false form, being a plush-toy, doesn't exactly have much to do with his life, unlike Yukito.

It's not like Sakura can't see him anymore, of course: even when he chooses to follow Harry to school, like today, the two come home by dinnertime at the latest and Kero-chan still sleeps in a drawer in her room.

She rather misses him anyway.

Maybe Yue-san is right, and she will create her own Guardians eventually – but she doesn't like the idea. The last thing she thinks possible is to replace Kero-chan.

She puts the Book and the Card in it away with a soft sigh, then shakes herself out of her memories and grins. None of that matters today. Today, it's a day for ice-cream!

She runs to the door and throws it open right as a very tall, very weird old man is about to knock and she stops just in time to avoid barrelling into him.

“Oh!” she gasps. “Oh! I'm so sorry! I had no idea there was someone here...!”

Her eyes go wide as she takes in his purple and silver robes, that remind her a lot of what Mr. Clow wore when The Return showed him to her, and even wider when she spots another tall, though younger, man behind the old stranger, dressed forbiddingly all in black.

Meanwhile the two wizards watch the pretty girl with short brown hair and a sweet smile carefully, evaluating her.

“No harm done,” says Albus genially, wondering who she might be.

“I'm so glad!” she replies cheerfully, clasping her hands behind her back. “How may I help you?”

Sakura blinks in surprise at the glare her perkiness elicits from the dark, scowling stranger but the older one is quick to clear his throat to catch her attention.

“We are looking for Harry Potter,” he says importantly. “Is this the right address?”

She blinks again. “Oh, hum, ah... my little brother isn't home yet,” she says awkwardly and Albus almost frowns.

A sister is not good news. It implies a family and if the child has formed attachments so far away from England... it doesn't bode well for his willingness to do what's necessary for his homeland.

That was one of the reasons he had wanted Harry with the Dursleys. His loyalty should go to the British wizarding world and nowhere else. If the boy isn't amenable to do his duty for his birthland, they are all lost!

He scrutinizes the girl closely, attempting to determine how he should go about this. Despite the utterly muggle attire, she's clearly a witch, and a powerful one at that. Her magic feels rather wild however and he doesn't see a wand on her, which is a hopeful sign, as it means she's likely untrained. What child doesn't want to learn magic? She is a little old for enrolment, but if necessary, he'll bend the rules and offer her a place in Hogwarts as well. That should encourage Harry.

“May I ask why you wish to see him?” inquires the girl very politely, but Albus catches the unease in her eyes. That won't do. The last thing he needs is for Harry to be wary of him!

He smiles at the pretty girl, congenial: “I am Albus Dumbledore and I am the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,” he tells her grandly. “I come to offer Mr. Potter a place in my school.”

He ignores Severus' grumblings about special treatment for a worthless brat who doesn't deserve more than the standard letter. For all his intelligence, Severus is too blinded by his hatred for the child's father to understand that they simply cannot afford to leave anything to chance.

Harry Potter must come to Hogwarts.

The girl doesn't take notice of his sour companion, fortunately. She is lost in her wonder, eyes wide and shining with amazed enthusiasm: “Oooh!... A School of Magic? Really?...”

Oh, yes, the girl will be an ally, thinks Albus a little reassured. Hopefully Harry will react just as enthusiastically.

“I think it would be best if you came back in the evening, sir,” Sakura tells them decisively after a bit of thought. “Our dad is on a dig in Hokkaido and won't be back until the end of the month, but everybody else will be there.”

Touya and Yukito always come back from college during the weekends after all.

Albus smiles happily, promising to come back later. With what is likely the primary guardian away, he believes he'll have an easier chance at convincing Harry, no matter who 'everybody else' is.

Sakura watches the two odd-looking men from the doorstep until they disappear, a small, uncharacteristic frown on her face. They give her a weird feeling and she isn't too sure of what it means.

Fishing out of a pocket the pink cell-phone Tomoyo gave her recently, she quickly calls her big brother and then Harry to warn them.

Her phone call worries Touya.

Moving on to college has not changed him at all and his protective instincts still flare up with a vengeance whenever something odd might threaten his siblings, and this situation is raising all sorts of alarm flags for him.

He's never heard of such a thing as a school for teaching magic; but even supposing it exists... why would a Headmaster come all the way to their house just to offer his little brother a place in a school? Sure, Harry is powerful, so it isn't inconceivable that they might want him, but still... A letter would have sufficed.

“She said this school is called Hogwarts?” asks Yue in a soft, dangerous voice. Touya turns, surprised. The Moon Guardian doesn't come out often during the week, preferring to leave Yuki to deal with boring college classes and annoying college fan girls.

“Yes,” he says, watching the gorgeous Guardian intently, sure that the other has a better insight then him in this. The dark look on his face isn't reassuring either.

“Clow went there, as a child,” is Yue's quiet explanation. “That's where his knowledge of Western Magic came from.”

Touya freezes. Then he groans: “This is the troublemaking brat's fault, I just know it!”

Yue grimaces: “We'll have to be careful with this.”

They skip the last class of the week to get back sooner and Harry finds them waiting for him at the end of his athletics practice.

He has grown a lot since Touya first met him in that swimming pool: he still isn't tall for his age by any reckoning, but he's healthy and tanned and energetic, forever busy with a thousand things – school and kendo and track running and magic and friends and playing with his Cards...

His genuine joy at seeing his big brothers fades with the news they bring. He isn't particularly interested in going to a magical school – he is _happy_ where he is! - and he is less than pleased to hear the school he's offered a place in is in England. “I don't want to go back there!” he yells, half-angry, half-scared.

“Nobody's going to make you,” says Touya softly, understandingly. “But it just isn't normal for a Headmaster to go to such length for a student. Isn't it best that we find out what's behind this?”

Harry closes his eyes mutinously, but doesn't voice any other protests.

When the Headmaster and his sour companion come back that night, they are met with a faint hostility that surprises and worries Albus greatly.

The cosy but unremarkable sitting room is filled with tension.

Albus Dumbledore, of course, rarely lets himself be uncomfortable about anything and he sits serenely in the armchair he is offered, wondering how to best turn this meeting to his advantage. Severus stands forbiddingly at his back, scowling. He does not like feeling so uncertain about these Japanese, he does not like that the reason they're there is Potter’s spawn and he hates not knowing for sure what is going on and what to expect. He hates even more that except for the silly girl, no-one seems remotely fazed by his glare.

He sneers at the Potter brat anyway and he's shocked when he's instantly met with furious glares from everybody present, even the perky girl that seemed so unsettled by his attitude earlier. The white-haired young man is particularly scary. Were his eyes ice blue a moment ago?

Perhaps he'd better school his reaction to Potter's spawn until the brat is within his clutches at Hogwarts.

A stony-faced Touya and a Yuki with a very fake smile take the couch, as usual with Harry securely sandwiched between them.

They agreed earlier that the Guardians should not make an appearance unless necessary, and Harry gently squeezes Yukito's arm to calm Yue down. The Moon Guardian retreats a little and contents himself with observing, just as Kero is doing from his hiding place in Sakura's pocket, but he’s not happy at this intrusion from a past he hasn’t yet come to terms with, nor with the threat it likely represents for his Master.

Sakura serves tea nervously as the silence stretches.

“So,” Touya says at last. “If I understand this correctly, you are offering a place in your... school, to Harry.”

“He has been on our enrolment list since his birth, just like his parents,” explains Albus, portraying a genial grandfatherly air. “A great honour, as I'm sure you realize.”

Touya just watches him blandly. They must have very different ideas of what constitutes an honour, but there is no need to point this out.

It is Harry who speaks up. “I don't want to go back to England,” he says with contained fury. “My place is _here.”_

Severus snaps, outraged at the spoiled brat's tantrum: “You'll do as you're told, you arrogant little toerag...”

He gasps when a furious voice cut him off: “How _dare_ you!” It's the bespectacled young man at the child's side, and he's beyond livid. “You have no authority over him, _wizard!”_

Touya smiles inwardly. The voice might be Yuki's, but that's Yue through and through.

The old Headmaster seems alarmed at the hostility. “Of course, of course,” he says placatingly. He shoots a warning glare at the dark man puffing in indignation behind him: “Severus was merely saying that a decision of such magnitude should not be left entirely to an eleven-years-old...”

Touya's hand closes on Yuki's restrainingly. To the Guardian, it is unthinkable that his Master should not be free to make his own decisions, no matter how many advisors he chooses to consult (and no matter that Yue himself would give him a piece of his mind if he felt it warranted), but Touya doesn't think that open outrage would help them any at the moment. Besides, these wizards do not need to know about Harry's Card-friends. Definitely not.

“As Harry is a minor, the decision does, indeed, rest upon us, as his legal guardians,” he says coolly. “However I am not inclined to go against his wishes.”

“My dear boy,” says Dumbledore jovially, blithely ignoring how Touya's gaze narrows and goes frigidly cold, “I was under the impression that your father was Harry's guardian, yes? I'm sure he will not wish to deprive young Harry of this amazing opportunity. Why, to be accepted at Hogwarts is the chance of a lifetime!”

“Is it?” asks Yuki, and he lets they syllables drop with scornfully polite doubtfulness.

Albus frowns but before he can retort, Touya cuts him off coolly: “Your impression is wrong. Mr. Tsukishiro and I,” he nods to Yuki, “are legally in charge of my little brother,” he stresses the relationship, noticing the slight frown it elicits with growing unease.

“Hogwarts is the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world...” reiterates Albus a little stiffly.

“Hmm,” says Touya non-committally. “I believe I would feel better if I knew a bit more than that.”

“Of course! Of course!...” tries Albus.

“For instance,” interjects Yukito with a pleasant smile, “it would be helpful to know the actual curriculum...”

“Qualifications offered, possibilities of further education...” elaborates Touya.

“Schedules and logistical arrangements, too...” adds Yukito.

Albus feels a bit lost. Never before has he met someone who didn't know how excellent Hogwarts is from the start – except for the parents of muggleborns, of course, but they are usually only interested in understanding what is going on with their children. The young men before him clearly are aware of Harry's powers, probably because the girl is a witch, and so are not impressed with the mere fact that Hogwarts teaches _magic,_ yet they are also obviously removed from the wizarding world and thus, they are unfamiliar with Hogwarts' greatness.

It is most unlucky.

Severus, unwilling to spend in that house a minute more than absolutely necessary, takes over explanations in clipped tones, now and then allowing Albus to interject a comment or a clarification that puts the school in a better light than the younger wizard's impatient honesty would.

Harry and his family listen with the extreme focus Severus usually wishes in vain his students would have in class and from time to time interrupt with very polite, very precise questions.

Some of those stump the Potions master – a physical education _program_? Seriously? Sports club? As if Quidditch wasn't enough... Private music lessons, when the brat would likely have troubles keeping up with normal classes? Home economics, what does that even mean? And... _information technologies?_ Utter nonsense...

Others simply irritate him – a personalized curriculum, who does the brat think he is? Impartial, external evaluations of the teachers, why, the nerve! And what do they care about the House system anyway, none of them went to Hogwarts, so obviously House affiliation would mean nothing to them...

Afterwards, there is a moment of considering silence, before Yukito, in a dangerously saccharine tone, sums it all up: “So the school provides _no_ education whatsoever in any of the topics the modern world requires for any kind of job; offers _no_ qualifications worth anything outside of a closed-off elitist society and _no_ guarantees that said society will be able, or willing, to accept the graduates and offer good living conditions; does _not_ disclose its teachers' evaluations, if they're even made, nor does it publish its standards and results for comparison with other institutes; restricts the students to the very basics of _one_ type of magic and actively discourages experimentation as well as non-standardized performing of magical tasks; allows for _no_ personalized learning and _no_ inter-cultural exchanges, as well as giving _no_ attention to the areas of ethics, politics and law; does _not_ prepare the pupils for life after graduation _nor_ for admission to any kind of college education; provides _no_ occasions for socialization outside of very restraining parameters geared towards segregation rather than integration and gives the children _no_ options to develop their artistic or practical skills, as well as almost no chance for sport?”

The two wizards gape at him in uncomprehending shock as he asks very seriously: “And just why should we send our Harry there?”

There is only a stunned silence before Albus protests incredulously: “But it's the best school of magic in the world!”

Touya snorts: “That just makes me wonder about the others, really.”

Albus stiffens: “I don't think you understand, young man...”

Touya cuts him off: “Can you at least tell us what the school's mission statement is? Its policies on ethical issues such as discrimination, bullying, discipline, addressing diversity...” he trails off in front of their blank stares. “Right,” he sighs. “All in all, it seems to me like your 'première school' is, in fact, a hoax.”

Albus rears back as if struck: “How dare you! Hogwarts has educated young wizards and witches for _centuries_! It's...”

“...not in synch with our educational goals,” cuts in Yukito very firmly. “We thank you for your offer, but have decided to decline it.”

How his best friend can make politeness cut so sharply is a wonder to Touya. Not that he disapproves.

“You...” says Albus in horror, shocked at the turn the situation has taken. “That's ridiculous! Hogwarts is an excellent school!”

“Not from our point of view, it isn't,” retorts Touya. “Now, if that is all...”

The stunned Headmaster climbs to his feet and draws himself to his full height. “How can you think to deny this child a magical education!”

“Ehi! I'm doing quite well in my magical studies!” protests Harry, drawing a quick smile from the very worried Sakura but otherwise being ignored. As if Yue would let him slack off...!

“You have no right to deprive him of opportunities...” roars Albus.

“Precisely - which is why we shall not send him to your school!” Touya remains seated and he doesn't raise his tone, but the precise coldness of his retorts is harsh.

Fed up with the whole thing, Severus sneers: “Fine, then! If you're determined to be blind, then who are we to stop you?” One less Potter in his life is only a good thing in his book.

“No!” shouts Albus, his expression growing thunderous. Then he visibly collects himself: “I cannot allow... Harry Potter _must_ come to Hogwarts,” he mutters.

“Why?” Touya's eyes are dangerously narrowed.

The aged Headmaster makes a dismissive gesture with his hand: “It matters not. As you are mere muggles, I am afraid the decision is out of your hands, as your guardianship of a magical child is immaterial in regards to magical law...”

Yue's magic flares out so bright and sudden that everybody gasps and the two wizards almost stagger. Severus gulps, positively shocked. Where has all this power come from? And the bloke's eyes are ice blue again! He shivers involuntarily.

“What, exactly, gave you the impression that we are _non-magicals_?” Yue asks in a hiss.

“Is that what 'muggles' mean?” blurts out Harry.

“Yes, it is, and that is another reason to keep you away from that school. Their lack of correctness in their dealing with the non-magical community is nothing short of shameful,” says Yue – an opinion he has borrowed entirely from Clow, but that doesn't make it any less true.

“But...” says Albus gaping. Where has all this power come from? And what does this _boy_ mean, lack of correctness? He is a staunch supporter of equality between the magical and muggle communities! Everybody knows this!

Touya, who's figured out Yue's stance and where he wants to take this, releases his own magic, much quieter yet with an undercurrent of unmistakable strength: “The fact that we do not need to flaunt our power does not mean we lack it,” he says coldly. “Now, I believe we've made it clear that your offer doesn't interest us. I suggest you leave.”

Severus nods stiffly, furious to have been caught so off guard and definitely unwilling to risk a confrontation with opponents strong enough to deceive him, not to mention Albus Dumbledore, over Potter's bratty spawn of all things.

Albus however has long been accustomed to being above the law and right now, he is thinking along the lines of desperate measures. This are, after all, desperate times. He cannot let Harry Potter escape his grasp again. It would mean death, darkness and destruction! England _needs_ the Boy-Who-Lived!

“I'm sorry,” he says, and he actually is. It is never pleasant when he is forced to use questionable means for the greater good. But the fate of a leader is often thus. “I'm sorry,” he repeats.

And he raises his wand. A simple compulsion charm will go a long way...

He doesn't get the chance to cast, for their reaction is instantaneous.

Yue's wings burst forth and immediately close around his Master, protecting him, even as he lifts the boy and jumps back to an area clear of furniture, where he can move more freely.

Fully trusting his Guardian to protect him, Harry has focused on defending the others and The Shield flares up between his family and the British wizards in the same instant as Sakura's “Release!” command tears the air.

Severus, years of spying having honed his instincts until he can react in a split second despite his shock, has whipped out his wand and let a stunner go, but it is easily absorbed by The Shield and he doesn’t have time for another because a huge tawny lion with heavy armour and spread angel wings lunges at him, knocking the breath out of him as he throws him to the ground.

Sakura is already twirling her pink staff and rummaging into her pockets for a talisman to use while Yue, firmly planted before his Master, is swiftly shaping streams of his blue energy into the shape of his beloved bow.

Severus barely manages to hold onto his wand, but a young voice shouts out: “The Wood! Get that stick from him!” and before he can comprehend what's going on, vines have tugged his only defence away from him and slapped his frantically grabbing hand away harshly, and the maneless lion atop him growls threateningly.

But it is Touya's action which is most decisive. Not bothering with magic, he charges the old man and without so much as a by your leave, knocks the wand-wielding hand aside and punches the wizard on the nose.

It is almost as satisfying as knocking that Akizuki nuisance.

In an instant, he has wrenched the almost white stick from the old man's hands and jumps back, letting his little sister call forth 'petals of wind to bind their foe'.

Light explodes from her wand, strands of wind emanating from the talisman she's slapped onto it, and race to the staggering old man, wrapping him up in tight magical bindings.

A call for “The Windy!” echoes from behind them and quickly the other wizard is just as restrained.

They both look completely stunned.

Touya is frowning at the wand in his hands. It feels odd... warm in his fingers and pleasantly tingling... and carrying an impression of eagerness, a promise of unlimited power. It _wants_ to be used – now and often. It is alluring, dangerously seductive, potentially addictive. Curling his own magic into himself, Touya projects back a clear feeling of _not interested_. The preying upon his mind subsides, but the stick remains comfortably warm in his hand.

Yue's cold, angry voice snaps him out of his contemplation: “The Power! Could you please throw them out?” He is a sight to behold, with his power wrapped around him like a mantle and a glowing azure bow pointing energy arrows straight at the bound wizards.

The small pink girl with the grim smile and the hard glint in her purple eyes that materializes at his call is what shocks the two wizards the most, oddly enough. Anyway, she is happy to oblige her Guardian and before they can say 'wait', the two British find themselves in a heap on the road outside.

Severus has had enough, thank you very much. He hadn’t wanted to come in the first place, and with good reason, as it turns out. He climbs to his feet in a fury, determined to give Albus a piece of his mind. The old man is stubborn, though, and desperate, and rapidly reaching the end of his tether.

To go back to England without Harry Potter is a recipe for disaster. To leave behind his Elder Wand…! Unthinkable!

Of course, none of the occupants of the cosy little house can guess why the British wizard is so frantic. They only see a fool who can’t take no for an answer.

“The Loop?” calls Harry in clipped tones and when the red band twisting in the symbol of infinite appears, he simply points at the two wizards, too angry to speak properly.

And suddenly Albus finds himself at the opposite end of the street every time he crosses the little garden gate.

Tension rushes out of them and they leave him to it, only Yue keeping a sharp eye on the dangerous fool until his dark companion manages to coax him away at last.

They all hope that that will be the last they see of either, but it is not to be.

The very next day a grim-looking, pale Severus Snape stands just outside the little gate. He has no wish to trigger whatever odd ward _they’d_ erected the previous evening but he needs to talk to them. So he waits.

He closes his eyes, pained, as the conversation he had with Albus the night before runs through his mind again. Though ‘conversation’ is perhaps a tall term. The aged wizard had been completely devastated and the saké he'd downed hadn't helped any. He'd ended up blurting out a lot more than Severus had ever heard from him, much less in a single setting.

The Potions master can only curse that damn man for his penchant for secrecy and behind-the-scenes manipulations.

What Albus has confessed last night… if more people had known of it – if _Severus_ had known of it – they could have prevented so many mistakes...! They could have prepared... arranged contingency plans...! But no! The old fool had thought he alone knew best.

Now, it is up to Severus to repair what damage is possible to. As usual.

He is rather confident that he’ll manage. For all his unpleasant temper, he’s still a consummate Slytherin. He’s perfectly able to play the smooth negotiator when it’s needed. Even to people he loathes. Moreover, he’s done worse things than forcing himself to be polite and diplomatic to Potter’s bratty spawn and his infuriating family. Scraping for the privilege of kissing the hem of a madman’s robe comes to mind.

And that is precisely why he cannot afford to fail. To imagine the Dark Lord triumphant... for him, that's the nightmare that tops all others, these days.

So he waits, determined to turn this mess of a situation to their advantage despite the odds.

He does not want to be there, not in the least, but if there is one thing Severus Snape is good at, it’s schooling himself through unpleasant tasks. Lately, it seems like that’s all he does.

When an odd maze springs up all around him, he firms his jaw, scowling, but refused to let his tight control slip.

Without a wand, all his lovely fantasies of blasting the damn hedges away in the most messy and devastating way possible must remain wishful thinking and he can't even use a _Point Me_ spell to find the exit, so he's left with the old frustrating method of exploring the maze.

He sticks to it anyway.

They won’t get rid of him that easily, not after what Albus confessed. He has seen what the Dark Lord is like, he has seen it up close. He will go to any length to prevent him from taking over his country, from ruining even more lives.

His determination apparently impresses his quarries because after a while, the maze opens a path of its own volition and he’s allowed inside the house. He hides both his relief and his irritation. He must play it cool, remain in control. So much depends on this.

Severus watches the white-haired young man letting him in very carefully. He looks so _normal,_ yet the wizard is wary. He is sure that the man – if it was a man at all - had _wings_ yesterday, even if there is no trace of such today. What the hell is he?

Neither the girl nor the armoured lion are anywhere to be seen. Then again, the lion was invisible yesterday as well, so he doesn't lower his guard.

He takes the seat he's offered and finds himself pierced by a green, serious gaze that he is simply unable to bear. Even after a decade, Lily's death is a knife twisting in a festered wound. The Potter brat is once again ensconced between the two disquieting young men. That's the first thing that needs to change, and not only because he can't bear to see _her_ eyes in _that_ face. No way can he discuss what he must with the child present!

He gathers his thought a moment, quietly observing them, lined up like a defence formation. None of them looks very pleased to see him. Well, he isn't very pleased to see them either, but life's a pain like that.

“I am surprised to see you here, Professor Snape,” says the taller of the two at last – the one that has sent Albus into hyperventilation for reasons that the aged wizard has stubbornly refused to share.

Severus meets his gaze steadily, just as impassive: “There are… things to discuss,” he replies evenly. He sticks his nails into his fist to remind himself that he must remain cool and level-headed at all costs. Too much hangs on this. “We started off on the wrong foot yesterday.”

Touya and Yukito both snort and then share a quick, amused glance. Wrong foot indeed.

“What you mean, Professor Snape,” says Yukito pleasantly, “is that you came here full of arrogance, utterly convinced that we mere 'muggles' would roll over before your greatness and hand over our little brother without question, and now that you've realized how much you've miscalculated, you wish to try a different approach.”

“By all means, do not let us stop you,” mocks Touya, casually leaning back in fake relaxation. He really wants to find out what on Earth could they want with his little brother that is so overwhelmingly important to them. Whatever it is, it cannot be good.

Severus clenches his teeth, resisting the urge to snap back in a defensive manner. Those two really get on his nerves. How can they get the upper hand over him – him! - so easily?

“There are... circumstances you are not aware of, concerning your ward,” he says stiffly.

“Oh, so your new approach is the 'honesty through and through' one?” asks Yukito teasingly, making the wizard glower with restrained fury.

“Very well. Do tell us,” says Touya coolly.

“I would prefer if the child wasn't here for this,” Severus replies with a dismissive flicker of his hand, determined to maintain control over the unpleasant conversation.

Harry scowls, but it is Yukito who says stiffly: “This is about Harry. He has a right to know and be a part of the decision making.”

“He is eleven!” spits out Severus, indignant. “He is too young. Send him out to play or something.”

“I'm right here, you know,” grumbles Harry, only to draw a disgusted scowl from the black-clad man.

“I am pretty confident that Harry is mature enough to face whatever it is you feel we should know,” says Touya with a frown.

Losing his scant patience, Severus buries his fathomless eyes into the infuriating young man's brown ones. “Fine,” he hisses dangerously, and tells them.

He tells it all – what the Dark Lord did to himself, what he tried to do that night, when he killed _her_ and Potter senior, what happened according to Albus, what it means that the child is a Horcrux.

A part of him is pettily pleased by the way their expression grow darker and more and more stricken. His dark smirk fades as he voices the horror of it all, for there is no satisfaction to be drawn from something like this, under any circumstances, but he does nothing to shield them. They asked for it, now they're getting it all.

His voice softens only when he gets to the part where he warns them that the boy will have to _die_ – and curse Albus to hell for making him promise to protect Lily's child when all along, he was planning to raise him as a pig for slaughter – and he realizes that whatever his personal feeling for the brat, he's talking to people who love him. He is suddenly struck by the awareness that the death of a child is not – should never be - a matter for petty revenge. Belatedly he realizes that he should never have even touched the topic around the brat too. He should have insisted they made him leave.

He sighs. Too late now. He will just have to brace the reactions – and he knows they will be unpleasant. He is almost expecting hysterics and he knows he deserves to be forced to endure it all.

Once again, however, the odd group surprises him. They look grave and sad, but not desperate or scared, nor are they in denial. He is _not_ expecting them to be so simply... accepting. The brat himself is oddly composed. For a moment, while they digest the information in silence, Severus wonders if perhaps they don't understand.

He is startled when Potter's spawn breaks the silence softly.

“Is that what the Nightmare Bearer was?” asks Harry in a very small voice.

“Nightmare... Bearer...?” asks Severus seriously perplexed.

Gently, Yukito draws Harry onto his lap, hugging him tightly. The child sinks back against his chest, seeking comfort from the memories of horror.

“What are you talking about?” asks Severus again, starting to get annoyed. Darn it, the reactions of these weird people are all wrong. They shouldn't be taking something like this so calmly and they most certainly shouldn't be ignoring him as if he were inconsequential! They are deeply unsettling him.

Touya doesn't bother with answering the wizard's irritated questions and demands instead: “Is your conviction that Harry carries a...” he gulps, but forges on, “a piece of _that._.. inside him, the only reason you want him?”

Severus hesitates. There is the Prophecy to consider, but...

“Spit it out,” says Touya harshly. Memories of his little brother's pain are dancing in his mind, along with shadows of what Harry's future would hold if they gave in to these British fools' demands. He is angry enough at these damn wizards already. If they're still hiding something...

Perhaps realizing that the powerful young man is reaching the end of his patience, Severus relays the Prophecy, the part he overheard so long ago and the part Albus only told him last night, which damns Lily's child beyond redemption.

To his surprise, all three of them relax, shrugging it off.

“I can’t believe this,” mutter Touya, grimacing in disgust.

“What is it with British wizards and their obsession with Fate?” asks Harry shaking his head.

“It matters not,” waves it off the other young man, and Severus almost winches when he notices a blue tint in his eyes. “We know all too well how easy it is to misinterpret a prediction.”

“What are you talking about?” shouts Severus outraged. “The wording is as clear as it gets! Don't you understand the implications for this child...?”

Yue's contempt is growing stronger with every word the wizard says and Yukito does not stop him from expressing it: “Actually, it is easy to argue that this Prophecy of yours is already fulfilled. After all, vanquish does not mean defeat forever, and it can be easily argued that causing this Dark Lord of yours to, what was it you said? Lose his body and be reduced to a wraith-like existence, easily counts as vanquished.”

Severus frowns and opens his mouth to argue, but the other doesn't give him the time: “No, the reason you and that old fool hang onto this prediction so desperately is not that you believe it to be true, but that you don't want to accept it's not. You can't afford it, because then you would have to fight yourself. Do you realize how pathetic you all are? You are trying to force an eleven-year-old into the responsibility of saving your entire world while you sit on your backs and do nothing!”

“That's not...!”

“Isn't it?” asks Harry, softly and bitterly. “You come here and make demands... as if it was my _duty_ to be your ace-weapon... because that's what you're saying!”

Severus grimaces uncomfortably, but he has to defend himself: “Many people are and will be fighting, it's not like you're so special...”

“Then what do you want me for?”

“You...”

“I was abandoned by you, nobody cared back in England, you just left me with the Dursleys. Do you have an idea how many people were willing to help me here in Japan? Even if I was just a stranger?”

“You were a child,” interjects Touya softly. “You still are...”

“Doesn't seem to matter to them,” retorts Harry sadly.

To that, Severus has no answer, because it doesn't, indeed, matter. Sacrifice one child to war, to save all others... that's perhaps horrible, but perfectly acceptable to him. Better than the alternative of the devastation the Dark Lord will bring.

But the now blue-eyed young man is not finished: “What does Harry owe you?” he asks with deadly precision. “You gave him nothing, now you're only demanding. And the more he would give you, the more you would want. Am I right or am I right?”

Severus is mentally cursing Albus. If the man hadn't made such a monumental mistake as to drop the child to _Petunia_ – and Severus could have certainly given him a few pointed hints as to how bad an idea that was, had he known – none of this would have happened. Of course the child is willing to leave Britain to rot. He can't even truly blame him. What does their country mean to him?

That doesn't change the fact that if he could only think up of a way, he'd gladly force the damn brat to do what they need him to do! They may dismiss the Prophecy, but that doesn't change the child's status as a Horcrux. He's still marked for a horrible death. Why not make it a little more useful, but ensuring he takes down the Dark Lord at the same time? Why can't they see that it is the most elegant and less painful solution all in all? It is a tragedy, no doubt, but a lesser one than what their non-cooperation is preparing!

“Well, then, that is that, isn't it?” asks Harry hopefully.

“That is that? _That is that?”_ Severus is flabbergasted at how blasé they're being. “Have you heard nothing of what I said? You're an anchor for the Dark Lord's soul! You can't be such a dunderhead as to imagine that's a good thing! Do you really not understand that you must be killed?...” Alright, so that's harsh, but he isn't a gentle man by any stretch of the imagination and he's too out of sorts to feel any sort of consideration at the moment. Even for a child.

“We took care of that... Horcrux, did you call it?... years ago,” says Touya dismissively. “So yes, that is that, Harry.”

“You took care of it,” repeats Severus flatly. “You _took care of it_. Salazar's breath, I don't know if you're an arrogant idiot or simply too stupid to understand what...”

Yue's cold voice talks over him: “You should show him. He's too wrapped up in his own self-assuredness to believe us otherwise.”

Harry blinks, perplexed, then he realizes what his Moon Guardian means: “Of course,” he nods and rummages through his deck of Card-friends until he finds the one with the image of an elderly lady with long pointed ears and a flowing mantle wrapped around her frame, holding up a blue timepiece with Roman numerals.

Severus frowns as Harry speaks to the Card in a soft, subdued voice: “Please, let this guest witness the past of The Hatred.” The Card, to Severus' shock, dissolves into a swift-moving, tangible black mist which forms an asterisk of tendrils above them, alarming him.

And then the surprised wizard is swept away in a condensed version of a visit to a pensieve, a ghostly observer to a series of unbelievable events, and he witnesses it all, starting with filthy blackness and a child screaming himself awake, dark blood oozing from his odd scar, and ending with a silent, white funeral.

When he is returned to the normal world, he stares at the boy in awed, horrified shock.

For a long while, all he can do is gape unbecomingly and silently swallow all the disbelieving questions churning inside him.

“But that's... impossible...” he whispers at long last, and he is too lost to even realize how weak he sounds.

“To your Western magic, perhaps, but that is hardly the only form of magic in the world,” says Yue with no trace of pity. “I find it almost amusing that you were here, yesterday, accusing us of being blind, when you're the ones determinedly wrapping your heads in blindfolds to be sure not to see a palm from your nose.”

Severus's cheek darken to a pale red as he feels all the weight of truth in the merciless words.

He sighs, recognizing his defeat. The Dark Lord will, if not completely gain supremacy, at least destroy Britain as he knows it in the attempt. Unless a miracle intervenes, but he hardly believes in those.

Watching the three pair of hard eyes – dark brown as deep and as strong as the Earth itself, icy blue as cold as frost, emerald green so familiar he has to turn away because it _hurts_ – he comes to accept the full truth.

Harry Potter will not be their 'saviour'. And perhaps that is as it should be, because no matter his wishes, it is true that they had no right to even ask such a thing of a child.

“Will you at least return the wands you took?” he asks resignedly.

“There wouldn't be much point to it,” says Touya almost indifferently. “I doubt it would properly answer to your companion now.”

That is disturbingly in line with what Albus mumbled the night before and Severus warily asks: “What do you mean?”

Touya shrugs: “It isn’t unheard of for wands to shift their allegiance. My sister’s used to belong to another wizard as well, yet now it will only work for her.”

He says it so calmly, Severus is sure he has no idea of the panic he is alighting in the black-clad wizard's belly. Shifting allegiance? He has never heard of such a thing and he dreads the possibility that his precious wand is lost.

A thousand times this past night he’s reached for it only to remember it had been taken from him and the sense of loss and emptiness that brought was nightmarish. A wand is no mere tool: if it wasn't ridiculous to voice such a thing, he'd admit that he feels affection for it.

“I don’t mind giving this back,” says Harry with a shrug and he hands out the pale length of birch The Wood took yesterday.

The relief Seveurs feels when his fingers close on his beloved wand and he still feels the connection to it is indescribable. To have it back is enough to make him think Potter’s spawn might not be entirely rotten after all.

He doesn't voice his thanks, of course, but something in his expression must give him away because the Potter brat mumbles embarrassedly: “It’s not like it’s any use to me.”

“Probably because you didn’t mean to take it,” comments Yukito knowledgeably, relaying Yue's quick explanation.

“Huh?”

“You only wanted to get it away from him, didn't you? You never meant to take it for yourself.”

Harry nods, then his eyes widen and he turns sharply in Yukito's lap, staring at Touya in disbelief: “Wait... does that mean that you did, big brother? You meant to take it?”

Touya gazes back seriously: “Not particularly, I have no need for it after all, but… people like him shouldn't be playing with anything that powerful, in my opinion.”

Nobody replies to that, not even Severus.

The wizard gets up to leave, feeling strangely bereft. On the one side, he feels like there should be a thousand more things to say – but on the other… there really isn't any point.

The child is held securely in the strange young man’s arms, leaning back trustingly, eyes closed and hiding those green orbs Severus is haunted by. The two adults watch him impassively.

Yes, there is nothing left to say.

He nods curtly and leaves.

When the door closes behind him and his footsteps fade, everybody takes a deep, relieved breath.

And that _would_ be the end, except that Yue makes a point to write a rather ferocious letter to the Clow reincarnation, making his point extremely clear about meddling in general, and meddling with his Master in particular, and about the idiocy of believing something without bothering to collect evidence on top.

The letter starts full of bitterness and rage, but as he puts his thoughts to paper, the negative slowly bleeds away and the close is nothing but kindness. And, he realizes with a slight surprise, while he started off ranting at the spectre of the past, in the end he is speaking to the child who is no longer Clow and who just needs to understand that not everything is preordained and that 'extremely powerful' does not and never will mean 'omnipotent'.

Though the very idea takes Harry and the others by surprise, nobody says anything to dissuade him, except Keroberos whom Yue doesn't listen to anyway, because it soon becomes evident that the Moon Guardian needs this.

It is a form of closure for him, more definite and more peace-bringing than the slightly bitter resignation that had settled in after Harry changed The Light and The Dark.

When he signs the long letter he feels suddenly drained and collapses in Touya's welcoming arms; but he feels better than he has in _centuries._

That his effort will actually draw a letter of apologies from Eriol is a nice bonus, but even if it had garnered no reaction, he would still have remained as he is now, at peace.

As Touya and Yue put the finishing touches to the letter, Harry huddles on the couch, lost in his thoughts.

Sakura and Keroberos, who have just returned after a very opportune visit to Tomoyo, sit by him and he looks up to stare into the green eyes of his concerned sister.

“What's wrong?” she coaxes gently.

“Should I have gone?” he whispers his fear, looking troubled.

His sister blinks: “Um... where?”

“With... with those British wizards.”

“What?” asks Keroberos, completely shocked. “Where did this come from?”

“I...” Harry doesn't even know. “It's just... were I supposed to do what they wanted? Go back to their country? Fight their war? … Am I being selfish?... I...”

“Stop!” says Sakura determinedly, grabbing his hand and squeezing reassuringly. “One, you are a kid. Children aren't supposed to fight wars, Harry! They're fools if they think it.” She scowls at the mere thought.

“But we're special,” says Harry in a very low, hollow voice. “We collected the Cards. We have magic. Maybe...”

“They have magic too,” points out Sakura sensibly. “And they're much more experienced using it!”

“Besides, don't you hear yourself?” interjects Keroberos, fluttering to perch on Harry's shoulder. “ _Their_ country. _Their_ war... It's got nothing to do with you! Let them handle their own messes!” He nods proudly, stressing his point. “You belong with us!”

“That's right!” exclaims Sakura with a smile. “Also... remember what big brother always says! Foretelling is a chance to _change_ the future, not a prescription to make it go that way!”

“Well said!” cries Keroberos triumphantly. “Nothing less from you, Sakura! Also...” he stops, striking a dramatic pose in mid-air, and the two children watch him intently, waiting for the pearl of wisdom he is about to offer them: “I'm hungry! So stop this nonsense angst and let's go find some sweet!”

“Kero-chan!” yelps Sakura indignantly, collapsing on the couch. “Can't you think of anything but food!”

“Well,” the plush toy actually makes a show of considering it. “There's videogames, too.”

_“Kero-chan!”_

Harry bursts out laughing uncontrollably.

Touya appears on the doorstep of the sitting room, an arm affectionately curled around a smiling Yukito's shoulder: “What's that stuffed toy up to now?” he teases.

“What was that!” is Kero's indignant shout.

Harry lets the familiar teasing wash over him as he sinks back onto the couch, all his tension and worries flowing away into nothing. His hand brushes the Cards in his pocket with a light, fond stroke and he soaks up the feelings of affection and serenity his Card-friends return him.

And finally, all is well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I'm going with the manga version of Sakura/Syaoran, even if this fic is primarily Anime based, because I left Meilin Li outside of this entirely, so...)


	15. Y for Yummies

Harry is seventeen when he sets foot in Britain again, for the first time in over a decade.

It is a hot, humid, late August day and Diagon Alley, London's most renown magical shopping area, is lively with mid-morning activities and even if the hustle and bustle is still a bit subdued, an aftereffect of the war that has dominated the last few years, business is slowly but surely picking up in the newly-acquired peacetime.

Everyone on the street stops short, forgetting their own business to stare wide-eyed at the spectacle making its way out of Gringotts and down the bank's white marble staircase.

A handsome young man in emerald green, gold-trimmed robes, walks leisurely down the Alley, loftily ignoring the stunned stares fixed on him, dark hair falling untidily over his unsettling bright eyes and an aura of innate confidence and grace in the way he moves.

At his side walks gracefully another man, unremarkable in comparison but still eye-catching on this particular road because of his muggle attire, with short white hair and bespectacled eyes full of curiosity and charming wonder.

But it's the huge, maneless feline keeping pace with them that draws most gazes. A tawny lion padding down a busy street would be an eye-opener even if the creature didn't have enormous white wings, after all. Add to that an impressive, ruby-studded armour...

Terrified awe is easily clearing a path before the trio and a storm of whispers alights the very instant they pass.

Despite thoroughly enjoying the rare luxury of walking around freely in his true form, Keroberos isn't particularly happy, as testified by his constant grumbles. The bank-stuff was _boring_. And the portable console Harry bought him for the trip stopped working! It simply up and short-circuited on him! Just as he was about to face the final boss, too! Life is just unfair.

He can't even vent his frustration in his usual way, namely teasing Yue, because the crabby Moon Guardian is expressing his disapproval of the whole expedition by brooding away inside Yukito. Never mind that he agreed to come in the first place.

Harry, too, isn't too enthusiastic about visiting Britain. He never would have considered it under normal circumstances, but the letter that turned up on the kitchen counter about a week after his seventeenth birthday, detailing the necessity of a meeting to go over his previously unknown account at the London Branch of Gringotts Bank, has forced his hand.

Harry knows his family would think his worries utter silliness, but that doesn't stop him from being anxious about how much he owes them for everything they did and do for him. He's been taking odd-jobs in his spare time since he turned fifteen because of this carefully hidden unease, despite Touya and Fujitaka both telling him he shouldn't worry about a thing; he cannot help it.

The news of an inheritance of his own, however small, that will help with his college tuition when he eventually graduates, is certainly not unwelcome. So here they are, and to Harry's surprise, there was a tidy sum to his name awaiting him, that he could easily transfer to his bank account in Tomoeda, in spite of the goblins' chagrin. Hey, it's not his fault they don't have a branch in Japan, is it?

The bank vault was a pleasant surprise, but nevertheless, neither he nor his Guardians have any intention of remaining in England an instant longer than is strictly necessary to complete important business.

Of course, in a group comprised of Harry, Keroberos and Yukito, it goes without saying that 'important business' includes getting ice-cream.

Yue's ominous warnings go unlistened to.

The Moon Guardian can't help but be worried that someone might recognize his Master. Judging by the absurd uproar, filled with wild accusations, even wilder speculations and baffling panic, that spread like fire after 'Harry Potter' failed to show up at Hogwarts at age eleven, it is clear that the British wizarding world had – and might still have – an unhealthy obsession with their so-called 'Boy-Who-Lived'. Although his complete 'disappearance' has cooled the stalkerish hero-worshipping tendencies, there is no guarantee that a sighting wouldn't rekindle all the unwholesome enthusiasm of this society of gossipmongers.

That, in the Moon Guardian's opinion, makes it a very, very bad idea to go where he might possibly be recognized...

But there is no reasoning with Kero when sweets are involved, and with Yukito and his Master backing the silly lion, Yue knows he stands no chance.

Adelaide Fortescue, who has not long ago reopened her late husband's parlour, watches with slight horror as a huge armoured beast with wings bounds up to her counter, petrifying her and all her customers with fear, and goggles at the rows of colourful ice-cream bowls she has on display with stars in its eyes.

“Ice-cream!!!!” shouts Keroberos in the deep tones of his true form, making everybody in the parlour gasp and whimper. He stands enthusiastically on his rear paws and plasters himself against the protective glass, looking completely ridiculous.

“I want this!” he yells, pointing at random. “And this! And this!” He is positively drooling over the many many flavours. “I want to try them all! Ice-cream ice-cream ice-cream ice-cream!”

A chuckling Yukito coming up behind the crazed beast with his heart-melting smile and a bag of tinning Galleons big enough to reassure her about the army-sized order does wonders to turn Adelaide Fortescue's day around.

“Ice-cream! Ice-cream ice-cream ice-cream...!” pants Keroberos, making Yukito chuckle even more.

The poor woman smiles tentatively at the odd pair as she starts scooping up a bit of ice-cream with a nervous hand, to the Sun Guardian's squealing delight.

Meanwhile Harry snatches up a copy of the _Daily Prophet_ and takes a seat at one of the outside tables, very deliberately ignoring the gaping stares from the curious onlookers that are still making a circle around him.

The newspaper is full of the aftermath of the war that ended the previous May. Harry already has an idea of how that went: after the two wizards' attempt at getting him involved, seven years earlier, his family has been nervous enough to want to keep an eye on things.

Staying in touch with Eriol helped a lot with that. After his letter of apology arrived, Sakura, beautiful soul that she is, decided to do her best to renew their tentative friendship and they have kept in contact fairly regularly ever since.

The magician has even visited Tomoeda a few times. Touya and Yuki tend to disappear in those occasions, possibly to avoid the temptation of hanging the ever-perky Akizuki from the bell-tower, but Harry has come to decide that Spinel Sun is rather good company, once you get over how invariably serious he is.

As for Eriol himself, while his and Harry's opinions tend to be polar opposites ninety percent of the time, they can at least be polite to each other for Sakura's sake; besides, over the years some genuine respect has grown between them, despite their differences.

The powerful magician has been kind enough to forward to Sakura with regularity British newspapers, both non-magical and wizardly, and Yukito has taken it upon himself to track the news and relate the salient facts to the rest of the family.

He even managed to get this effort recognized as an extra-credit project for his undergraduate program in journalism, though how he pulled that off, Harry has no clue. Then again, nothing less from the boy who convinced a serious, reliable Drama teacher to change Cinderella's fairy godmother into _a can of mackerel_.

A combination of his bright smile, big innocent eyes, and Yue's moon magic, probably, thinks Harry with a fond smile. Even Touya is wrapped around Yuki's little finger, so what chance has the rest of the world, really?

Whatever his secret, it works wonders now that he's completed his Master and become a full-fledged journalist, too. Nobody denies him an interview... and he gets the director of his newspaper to accept the oddest work-hours from him without questions, thus easily accommodating Yue's life as well.

With a little help, here and there, from Mirror, who is always delighted to stand in for him if needed, especially since it generally means spending time with Touya. Harry thinks her crush on his big brother is absolutely sweet.

Harry's thoughts fly to his big brother, who couldn't accompany them today because he's been roped into organizing a seminar to supplement the main lectures of the Astronomy course. Perks of being a graduate assistant!

He's probably having more fun then they are, though, thinks Harry rather ruefully. His big brother loves astrophysics and he loves teaching too. Then again, the number of silly students who sign up for his presentations just because they have a crush on him never fails to irritate him...

Just like the rudely whispering gawkers circling him right now are irritating Harry to no end.

He sighs, doing his best to ignore them as he glances over the newspaper. The _Daily Prophet_ has been full of 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's' defeat since last May. Albus Dumbledore's most noble sacrifice has featured prominently too. The 'Conqueror of Two Dark Lords' is an all-time favourite with the British public, hailed as the 'second Merlin' and praised to the skies from every corner.

Today, there is another familiar name in print. Front page and above the fold, too. Severus Snape, man of spiteful courage, indomitable cynic, nervously acknowledged hero, is to receive his Order of Merlin today. The picture shows him limping up to a short, pudgy-looking official, forbiddingly dark and scowling, just as Harry remembers him.

The green-eyed young man bits his lip hard to prevent from voicing the bitterly smug comment running through his head: _See, Professor Snape? You didn't need me after all, you managed just fine!_

Harry closes the paper with another sigh. He isn't particularly interested, to be honest. He can't even enjoy this trip as if it was a holiday, because of all the unpleasant connotations Britain has for him. He would much rather be home, watching Tomoyo go off in raptures over the preparations for Sakura-nee-chan's impending wedding, of which she has – predictably - taken over the costumes entirely.

Harry smiles.

Sakura has been a completely elated, nervous wreck ever since Syaoran proposed, fretting over a million things incessantly and never losing her enormous smile, not even when asleep.

Harry has had no qualms teasing her. Who would have thought that getting married would make her so anxious? Especially since everybody with eyes had been expecting it for years.

Even Touya is reconciled with the idea at last. Well, mostly. Resigned, if nothing else. He still thinks they should wait until after college at the very least, better still until they get their Masters and secure jobs, even longer if it were up to him... but he doesn't voice his opinion more than once a day anymore. And he'll surely stop making Syaoran's life hard after the wedding. Probably. Hopefully...

“This is great! Wonderful! Best ice-cream ever!” Keroberos' enthusiastic voice intrudes in Harry's thoughts as the Sun Guardian bounds up to him in excitement, followed by Yukito who is balancing an impressive amount of ice-cream bowls on a serving tray.

“I got you chocolate and raspberry with chopped nuts!” the beaming young man tells him and Harry perks up on the spot.

He plunges a spoon in the creamy red and raises a curious eyebrow towards the triumph of light green and dark purple before Yukito, who grins: “Fresh mint and bramble with sprinkled almonds!”

“So many flavours! This is amazing! I could taste something different every day for a year and more! I love this place! Ice-cream! Ice-cream ice-cream ice-cream...!” Keroberos's raptures are gathering a lot of stunned and more and more amused by-watchers and Harry and Yukito share a fond smile. He'll never change.

“There you are,” a soft, calm voice startles them and Harry turns sharply.

A tall young man with long, blue-black hair and smiling grey eyes behind elegant glasses is standing just behind him, a blue-winged, black plush-toy on his shoulder. His flowing robes, midnight blue with onyx black trims, are even more impressive than Harry's.

The green-eyed young man blinks. “Eriol?”

“Hello, Harry,” the other says quietly.

Harry smiles a bit uncertainly.

Yukito tenses and asks warily: “Good day, Mr. Hiiragizawa... Is...?”

Eriol smiles: “No, Ruby hasn't come.” Yukito's slumping relief is almost comical and the magician's smile widens: “It took some persuading, though.”

In spite of his usual kind politeness, Yukito doesn't hide his grimace. That woman is a nightmare. In both her forms.

Eriol and Harry know all too well that isn't a good idea to put her and Yue – or Touya for that matter - in the same room, no matter how much she whines for it; not if they want the room intact afterwards. They are both rather grateful that their respective Sun Guardians, at least, get along. Of course, that is a matter of opinions. Case in point...

“I don't want any ice-cream, you big, happy-go-lucky blob. I don't like sweets,” comes from the stiffly annoyed little black plushie with butterfly wings.

“Sure you do! Everybody loves sweets!” is Kero's exuberant contribution, and he raises his third bowl of banana ice cream with fudge pieces and toffee sauce invitingly.

“I don't. And even if I did, I wouldn't risk diabetes by eating that much,” sniffs Spinel contemptibly.

“You ate a ton and a half that one time!” shouts the armoured lion pointing an accusing paw.

“You are astonishingly clueless,” is the even retort.

“Don't be bashful, _Suppie_ , there's plenty for everyone!”

“...I should have brought a book.”

Harry shakes his head at their familiar antics and turns to Eriol: “What brings you here today?”

“I Saw you'd be here and thought I should drop by to say hello. I don't think you would have come to me, would you?”

Harry's smile turns embarrassed. It's true, he wouldn't have gone. He likes the magician just fine, but not enough to actually seek him out!

He pushes a bowl of luxury vanilla ice cream rippled with orange sauce and chocolate pieces towards the tall young man, in a roundabout apology: “Come on, sit with us!”

“Thank you,” smiles Eriol.

“So you foretold our coming, Mr. Hiiragizawa?” asks Yukito curiously while he tastes a bowl of vanilla crisscrossed by various forest fruit ripple rather thoughtfully.

“Still playing with fortune telling, then?” comments Harry tauntingly, but with warmth in his tone, to take off the sting.

Eriol isn't fazed: “Still refusing to acknowledge your gift?” he replies in the same tone.

It is a long-standing argument between them. Harry steers clear of most that has to do with prophecies and predictions, wary even of Touya's 'feelings', while Eriol still believes firmly in the potency of that branch of magic, which he finds utterly fascinating.

Their arguments are fairly amicable nowadays, though.

Harry rolls his eyes at the other: “Leave it be, will you? That stuff's just not for me.”

Eriol shakes his head, looking sad: “I feel responsible for that. That you're so uneasy with a good portion of your powers... it's my fault. If I hadn't...”

Harry waves him off: “It's in the past. You shouldn't keep blaming yourself. I suspect I would have come to loath prophecies and fated destinies anyway, even if you'd been more sensible about the whole thing.”

He's thinking of the Prophecy that dominated his early life – that took his parents from him and gave him a horribly cursed scar and unwanted fame in exchange; the Prophecy that might have forced him into a kill-or-be-killed role, if it weren't for his family and his Card-friends.

“But...”

“No, seriously. We've forgiven you, remember? As long as you don't make the same mistakes again...”

Eriol grimaces faintly.

“Besides, you were sort of right, about Sakura-nee-chan at least,” Harry admits reluctantly.

“What do you mean?” asks Eriol, surprised.

“Oh, hasn't my sister told you? She's been creating her own Cards!”

The Hope was the first, but Sakura's deck is slowly growing: it already counts three lovely, pink-backed Cards and his sister is working hard to try and create her own version of her much-missed friend, The Windy.

“Amazing!” breathes Eriol in wonder. “You have to tell me everything! Please!”

With a quick wave of his hand, the magician's long staff appears and is swung around in a peculiar pattern. Eriol doesn't move from his seat and he doesn't lose his even smile, but the curious, gossiping onlookers' eyes glaze over, caught in his illusion spell.

Murmurs raise from the crowd: mutterings about something to do, an appointment to get to, and wouldn't you look at the time... suddenly, their little group – strange men and talking plush toy and armoured lion and huge amount of ice-cream - isn't all that interesting anymore and life goes on around them, a stream that ignores them utterly. Harry has a strong suspicion that people's recollections of their presence in Diagon Alley will be too blurry and hazy to make sense.

He shakes his head in quiet wonder.

For all his power, he wouldn't have a clue how to go about doing something of that magnitude, let alone doing it so casually. Eriol isn't even paying attention to the effect of his spell, eagerly waiting for Harry to tell him more about Sakura's successes.

The green-eyed youth hesitates, however.

They might not have mentioned his sister's original creations before, but Eriol already knows about the second Card Sakura welcomed in her care, and that was a right sad business, from what The Return has shown him after it was all said and done.

It had been one of Touya's premonitions that had led the dark-haired man and Sakura to find 'something the troublemaking brat left in the house that had been Clow Reed's, something he didn't tell anybody about, that will be trouble if it's just left there...'

To their surprise and chagrin, that 'something' had turned out to be a lonely, forgotten Card, one that time and dejections had filled with sadness and impotent rage.

Harry hadn't ever met it in its original form.

He'd been on a week-long school trip to the seaside at the time, with Kero ensconced in his backpack, facing mosquitoes and beach-volley matches and a test of courage in a nearby cave at night.

Thankfully Yue had been home to help Sakura and Touya deal with the spherical black void of emptiness that had taken to destroy everything it got in touch with.

It had taken Touya, Yue and Sakura a while to make out, in the centre of the terrible emptiness they seemed utterly unable to fight, a young girl with wings over her head and a small face full of sorrow, her hair long and silvery, her dress frilled and flowing and her eyes rimmed with tears.

Sakura had cried while telling Harry how unbearably lonesome the poor Card had felt to her empathic abilities, having suffered the pain of loss and loneliness for centuries. He couldn't even imagine how that would be like... to be unable to interact with others without destroying them... no wonder the poor thing had fallen into hysterical despair...

Personally, Harry blamed Eriol. Or Clow. Or both. Clow had made The Void so that the only beings that could interact with her safely were the other Clow Cards, but then he'd gone on with his scheme to pass the Cards on and practically forgotten her, and so had Eriol.

When she'd felt all of the other Cards changing, Harry and his Guardians turning away from the mansion she was confined in, then Eriol and _his_ Guardians leaving too, and nobody setting foot where she was for the longest time... she'd believed that all her friends had abandoned her, uncaring, that she'd been forgotten and deserted, that she'd be alone forever, with no hope of relief. And she'd snapped.

Luckily all the damage and deaths caused by The Void had been miraculously undone after Sakura had talked her down from her despair gently, promising she needn't ever be alone again... The powerful girl had created a Card on the spot, a nameless, unfinished one, that portrayed a young girl wearing a pink baby doll, with a sweet, shy smile and outstretched arms.

The Void, wary and hopeful at once, had let herself be Sealed under the power of Sakura's staff and then the teenage girl's Circle had widened under her feet, its golden glow brightening even more, and words had come to her on instinct: an incantation to allow the two quivering Cards, one longing the other welcoming, to merge under her wand point.

Their spirit selves shooting out into translucent tendrils of magic and entwining tightly with each other had been a beautiful, awing spectacle, as had their gentle coalescing into a single Card frame.

The pink Card born that day has Sakura's circled Star on its back, same as The Hope, and on its front, the two little girls hugging each other with cute, happy smiles on their faces. The name The Hug is etched in the customary little scroll at the bottom.

Eriol had been contacted while the crisis lasted, in the hope he could help them figure it out, and had arrived after everything had settled, at about the same time as Harry was coming back from his trip.

For the first time, Harry had witnessed Sakura actually getting _angry._ Not just peeved or annoyed, but _furious_. She had rounded on Eriol with flashing eyes and a voice loud enough to be heard outside the house, berating him fiercely for the pain he had inflicted upon the little Card.

And Eriol, smooth, suave Eriol, who always has a calm, cool composure, who is never concerned about what other people may think of his lifestyle or his methods and is always in control of the situation, hardly ever letting his composure slip, had flinched and quivered and completely caved in front of her ire, mortified and abashed.

Yue had commented in vague amazement that he would never have imagined to see such a powerful magician cowed, much less by a young teenage girl. Kero had just whispered that he would never have guessed that Sakura could be as scary as her big brother.

She had made _quite sure_ that his chagrin at the whole débâcle would not be easily forgotten: “You can't go around flinging power left and right and then _forget the consequences!”_ she'd ranted at the English boy, lips thinned in her outrage.

Eriol's self-confidence had come out of the confrontation severely shaken. Which, according to Touya, could only do him some good.

Still, a hot, lazy day full of amazingly tasty ice-cream isn't the right time to remind a powerful magician of his own fallibility, so Harry glosses over The Hug's birth and breezily recounts how The Hope came to be instead, and after that, Sakura's next creation, one born of sorrow and forbearance.

Sakura's friend and classmate Yanagisawa Naoko has died of cancer at barely sixteen. It has been a hard blow to his caring sister, who right to the end has hoped so hard that everything would turn out all right...

Their little group of friends had been unwilling to resign themselves until the very last... Naoko was too sweet to have this happen, too kind, too young! She hadn't graduated yet... she hadn't written her own horror novel... she hadn't even been kissed yet!

Sakura had come home for days on end talking sadly of white-wearing nurses and white walls and white sheets and Naoko's white face, her smiles half-hearted at best.

She had hoped so hard that the doctors might have made a mistake... that the illness might recede... that there would be a way... that she could do something, _anything_!

But in the end, there are things that even magic can't fix.

This painful understanding is what gave birth to The Truth, a serious, ageless elvish woman with light blue hair and eyes, that in her Card form contemplates a blue world globe: a counterpoint to The Hope, that shows reality in all its starkness when it is needed.

Yet although it was created out of Sakura's need to come to terms with grief and the bad things that life contain, it has turned out a more gratifying Card than they expected, for it also shows with the same clarity everything good the world has to offer.

Like how kind, book-loving Naoko, so fond of scary tales, so full of daring willingness to explore any mysterious situations she might hear of, had refused to be scared of her own death, bravely declaring it 'a new mystery', to try and cheer up her friends and family. How she had enjoyed her interest for the supernatural world and things such as ghosts, monsters, superstitions, and the like right to the very end, putting her huge imagination to good use while she had the chance. How she had left behind so many good memories...

It has been up to Sakura then, to apply the lesson her father had been teaching her all her life, ever since her mum's death: never to cry and sadden herself for a loss, never to wish for what hadn't been with regrets, but instead always remember the best of those who have come before with fondness.

The Truth helps coping with the past, just like The Hope aids in facing the future.

Right after Naoko's funeral, Sakura has declared her intention to become a doctor, to her family's surprise and pride.

Touya initially teased her something awful about choosing a path that has that much maths and science in it; she's sticking to it, however, and is already halfway through her six-years undergraduate program. She faces every exam and practice hour with a beautiful smile and the determination to do her best to help her patients.

Harry envies her a little, or rather, he envies that she's found a way in life that fulfils her. His own future looks so uncertain still. He is interested in a great many things, but none of them are a real passion. Luckily he yet has a whole semester before having to decide.

“So Clow's vision was spot on, after all...” comments Eriol in soft wonder, leaning back on his chair with a faraway look.

“Now don't you go thinking you can arrange everybody's future again!...” grumbles Harry, jolted out of his musings by the suspiciously dreamy expression of the other magician.

“No,” denies Eriol quietly. “I have learned my lesson. I won't stop trying to figure the future out, not ever. But I'll be careful never to dismiss the possibility of change, of the unexpected, and of people's free choices. That much I promise you.”

“Well, I suppose it's as good as I'll get...”

“You can't expect him to deny the power of foresight, Harry,” interjects Yukito gently. “After all, it is factual. You shouldn't negate it either.”

Harry scowls, ferociously attacking an all-chocolate bowl to avoid replying. Maybe his aversion to Divination is a bit irrational, but he feels he's justified in it.

The others savour their own ice-creams in silence for a while, letting him be.

“I don't want to risk throwing the burden of a Prophecy on some unsuspecting innocent, is all,” he mutters eventually. It's only a part of the problem, but it's a rather big part, and the only one he feels safe voicing with Eriol present. “Especially if it turns out false in the end.”

“Divination does not offer false responses,” frowns Eriol. “That Prophecy about you, for instance... it was true. It was I who refused to accept my interpretation of it was wrong. That fault lies not with the magic.”

“I agree,” says Yukito easily. “And so does Yue.” He shoots Harry a playful glower and the young man defiantly steals a huge bite of Yukito's apple and cinnamon ice-cream in retaliation, making the older bloke mock-pout.

Eriol looks at him inquiringly.

“Yue and Kero keep offering to teach me how to do a fortune reading with the Cards,” Harry admits sheepishly, “but I just can't bring myself to learn.”

“You shouldn't stop yourself from exploring your gift to its full potential just because you've seen it misused,” murmurs Eriol. “I know I had a large part in your antipathy for Divination, but...”

“It doesn't matter,” shrugs Harry, concentrating on his ice-cream.

“It does,” counters Eriol. “The ability to see the complex web of possibilities the future holds is something precious and rare and it can bring so much good...”

“And ruin so many lives,” mutters Harry bitterly.

“Yes,” sighs Eriol. “Like every kind of true power. Nevertheless...”

He looks away, toying distractedly with the melting remnants of his coffee ice-cream.

“Harry... How I was before we met... the mistakes I made... all was born of a form of narrow-mindedness, I recognize that now. Maybe because I've lived so long... I could no longer see things outside of certain... habitual... and restrictive... guidelines. Everything made perfect sense, but only from my narrow point of view.”

The magician bits his lip before continuing: “I have come to believe... that to avoid this risk was precisely the reason Clow Reed chose to die.”

He slants an uncertain look to Yukito, and beyond his amber eyes, to Yue, but no reaction is forthcoming.

“After a while, life ceases to be a matter of joy and wonder and the burden of the power becomes too much. He chose to leave it all behind, in a way... but I... didn't understand. I am him and yet not. I do and do not think like him. I inherited his amazing powers... and with them, his overwhelming belief in the inevitable and that made me... arrogant. As it had made him before. I came to believe that I, he, _we_ knew best... for the Cards, for Sakura, for myself.”

“ _In great power lies great responsibility_ ,” quotes Harry distractedly.

Eriol chuckles softly. “Deep.”

Harry's cheek redden a little, as Yukito chuckles too: “Blame To-ya,” the white-haired man explains and Harry nods: “He's forever going on about how power shouldn't be abused.”

And it's not just words either.

Touya still has the slender wand he took from Albus Dumbledore, but he very seldom uses it, despite admitting that it makes everything so _easy_.

“It is one thing to play with sentient magical creatures like your Card-friends,” he tells Harry often, “and quite another to throw magic around for every little thing, whether or not it can be done the regular way. Power should be used responsibly... besides, I don't want to become so dependant on a stick that I can't make my own tea anymore!”

Eriol pouts. “I don't like the idea of renouncing magic, or only keeping it for emergencies. It _likes_ being used – almost as much as I like using it!” he whines a little and his companions all muffle their laughters, even Spinel.

Then Eriol turns to look at Harry again, a serious gaze behind his light glasses. “Jokes apart... I do understand your point about not relying on it so completely that everything else loses meaning, including my own life.”

Harry raises his eyebrows, not quite sceptical but not quite believing either.

“I do,” reiterates Eriol. He looks away again. “Clow Reed was very wise and farseeing, and because of that, so am I, but it took us, _me,_ much longer than a whole life to understand that some choices must be made freely... or not at all. That there is no 'bowing to necessity' when it comes to life, and love, and magic.” He grimaces a little. “The perils of living on, resisting time and natural law... I could have turn bitter, or cynic. I ended up fatalist instead. Either way... it all stemmed from a lack of hope.”

Harry looks at him surprised and the powerful man smiles sadly: “Sakura-chan taught me this... that we need hope... that hope is what allows us to do something difficult, or important... that hope is what opens a new path when the offered two are not good enough, what keeps us awake to see the dawn that invariably rises even after the longest nights...”

Harry nods, understandingly. “Hope is the only thing we need,” he says.

“No,” is the surprising reply. “It is important, I've finally understood this. But let me tell you, Harry. Even hope isn't enough on its own. In order to hope... you need a nugget of reality to base your hopes on...”

And then he reiterates, a tad defiantly: “Divination can give you that. A starting point... or a warning sign... If you don't get too obsessed with it,” he admits in a quieter voice, looking apologetic.

Harry smiles back, lost in thought. “I'll... think about it. All of it. Though, that part you said about hope... it's just like Sakura, isn't it? Always so heartening.”

“Yes, she's a ray of sunshine in everybody's life,” smiles Eriol. “Li-kun is lucky.”

“Damn right he is!” proclaims Harry before turning his attention to one of the last bowls of ice-creams left, a black cup of liquorice ice cream with blackcurrant ripple. No-one's good enough for his sister, in his opinion. Though he admits that Syaoran comes pretty close.

“You'll come to the wedding, right, Mr. Hiiragizawa?” asks Yukito kindly, polishing off the remnants of his banana and pineapple ice-cream and diligently picking up the last decorative coconut flakes.

“Wouldn't miss it!” smiles Eriol, trying a bite of hazelnut ice-cream dripping with honeyed caramel and making a face. That is a combination too sweet even for him. “And what about you, Harry?” he asks after switching to coffee ice-cream with mocha ripple and letting an ecstatic Keroberos have the hazelnut bowl, while Spinel Sun scoffs, irritated at his fellow Sun Guardian's childishness. “Have you created any Card?”

Perking up, Harry produces the newest addition to his deck with a flourish, always happy to show off his Card-friends.

Though, he is a tad rueful as he narrates how they came to be. Truth is, he had tried so very hard to create a Card, after Sakura made The Hope, and simply... couldn't. No matter how stubbornly he bashed on with it, it didn't work. Whatever innate knowledge had guided him in forming The Hatred wasn't working any longer, or he couldn't access it, or he wasn't able to understand it anymore. For some reason, the power to create a Card was beyond him and he couldn't figure out why.

It had led to quite a lot of teenage frustration, which his Guardians didn't understand in the least. “Clow took centuries to come to full power, and so, most likely, will you,” had pointed out Yue very sensibly. Again and _again._ “There's nothing strange about you having a ways to go still.”

Harry isn't very proud to admit it, but his disappointment had been great, for a while. He'd sulkily become convinced that he would never be good enough and his temper had grown quite short. No, not the best period in his life.

His moody attitude had changed only when The Mirror had gathered up the courage to ask him if he was trying so hard to make new Cards because he didn't love them – the old ones, that is - anymore. Faced with tearful green eyes, Harry had suddenly realized just how stupid he was being. Now looking back he can only blush at how childishly selfish he has been in that period.

In the end, it had been only a brief few months, before he'd come to his senses and gone back to spending time happily with his Card-friends, without worrying about wanting more or needing more power or whatnot.

And really, in hindsight... perhaps he should have known that it was simply a matter of not having a good enough reason at the time.

When he had eventually managed, quite unexpectedly, to create a brand new Card, it had been his feelings for his family that had brought it along – every time. What better reason than to help a loved one, after all?

His first, for instance, has been created, without exactly meaning to, out of a genuine, sincere wish to cheer up a very depressed Sakura after her friend Naoko's death.

It has been conceived thinking of Sakura and possibly because of that, her spirit form looks like a pixie version of Harry's beloved sister, complete with short pink hair cut the way Sakura loves it and tiny pink rollerblades on her feet. She beams brightly from her Card form and even more in her spirit form and it is her gift to spread a cheerful feeling around, much like The Sleep spreads sleepiness.

Harry named her, very aptly, The Smile.

The Magnet, too, was created almost by accident – a combination of Harry taking a passing interest in Touya's physics books and Fujitaka needing a bit of help.

The kind archaeologist had come home shortly before Harry's fifteenth birthday full of excitement about a newly-discovered excavation site where amazingly well-preserved relics showed the evolution of Japanese society from before to after when the use of iron became prevalent with surprising clarity. He had been offered to coordinate the whole dig and had been overjoyed at the chance.

Because the disposition of the items found was the only concrete clue for dating outside of chemistry methods, the dig was a delicate, difficult one. Cutting-edge technology had been loaned to the team of archaeologists, in the hope of carefully sampling the relics without damaging any.

While the ground penetrating radar had worked wonders, however, the amount of gravel in the soil had made it very difficult, if not to dig, then to keep pits open while digging, and extracting the artefacts without messing up the site layout entirely and lose a lot of information had seemed impossible.

Fujitaka's dejected disappointment had spurred Harry's wish to help him to the point that a new Card had burst into existence.

The Magnet is a red-haired and white-skinned boy elf with the power of moving and bending iron. The picture shows him with his arms crossed over his chest and a cloak fluttering around his short frame, very serious and focused, and that is exactly how he is: reliably committed to whatever task he is asked to perform.

It has been child's play for the little elf to gently ease the iron artefacts out of the soil without disturbing the surrounding ones. Harry has had to be extremely careful to time the Card's interventions so that it looked like the portable power generator had simply 'malfunctioned' with unpredictable effects, but it had been worth it.

Not only the dig was performed with amazing results, that are keeping Fujitaka and his team happily busy with all the cleaning, cataloguing, classifying and comparing of the artefacts found, not to mention publishing their discoveries; but several research companies are frantically trying to recreate the effects of the 'conveniently malfunctioning equipment'. Syaoran, who's studying law and keeps an eye on this kind of things, has let Harry know that a number of minor patents have already been registered as a side-effect.

Harry's greatest accomplishment, however, is the Card which he has completed barely a month ago as a present for Touya and Yukito.

The idea came to him when Touya almost turned down the much coveted position of graduate assistant just because it would mean spending two semesters travelling around China and Korea, accompanying his sponsoring Professor to various universities for lectures and such. His big brother didn't want to leave Yuki and while the white-haired young man might have managed with ease to squeeze himself into a position of foreign correspondent to follow him, Yue's reluctance to leave Harry for a whole year vetoed it.

So Harry has put his mind and magic to task and the result is a Card as strange in powers and personality as The Loop, as difficult to deal with as The Dream and as taxing to even activate as The Time.

The Connect is represented by a geometric figure made up of two circular cones placed apex to apex. It is capable of folding space in such a way as to create a shortcut through it, much in the same way as two points drawn at a distance on a piece of paper can be brought closer by folding the paper.

That means that even if they're halfway through the world, if Harry uses it Touya can just step through and join them for a while, and be sent back in time for whatever appointment he might have to keep.

It is unbelievably draining to use it, but if there is one thing Harry doesn't lack, it's raw power. As long as he doesn't overdo it and takes a nap afterwards, he can let Yukito and Yue meet up with Touya every day, even.

And since the Card is Moon Ruled, when the moon is full and can grant him the great deal of magic required for it Yue can do it on his own, without Harry having to hang around.

The Separate has popped into existence right after, without much thought on Harry's part: a matter of keeping the balance between Moon Ruled and Sun Ruled, according to Keroberos.

It is represented, to Harry's slight surprise, by building blocks, the lower ones resting on a cloud, and a few others matching them above, soaring on white wings.

Aside for being able to disconnect things that are stuck together, which has turned out useful a couple times – most notably when Kero accidentally overturned a bottle of glue over his own head... - it is also the only way to disrupt The Connect's power. Should it ever come to the point when the other Card needs to be subdued, The Separate will be the way to go.

“You are truly amazing,” says Eriol when Harry's tale draws to a close, gently admiring the Cards he is being shown.

“Excuse me!” rings out a hip voice nearby.

They all turn towards it to find that it comes from a pretty young woman sporting scarlet robes and a badge of what Harry gathers is the local Law Enforcement Squad.

“An Auror, and powerful enough to overcome my warding spell,” whispers Eriol. “I wonder...”

She has a pale, heart-shaped face, a thin scar running up her left cheek and across one of her dark, twinkling eyes, and short, spiky, _bubblegum pink_ hair.

“Wotcher, all!” she exclaims loudly, approaching them.

“Yes?” asks Yukito kindly. “How may we help you?”

The woman opens her mouth to answer and automatically meets his eyes. And the moon attraction kicks in.

Those in the know can see it clearly: the way she is thrown completely off-balance, the horrendously noticeable blush that spreads on her lovely face, and the way she suddenly falters and stammers.

Yukito's silent sigh echoes Yue's mental one. They both find the whole thing slightly embarrassing, but they have enough experience with it to be able to keep their composure and politely pretend they do not notice the intense and totally illogical attraction. Or its even more illogical effects on people's behaviour.

The woman is still drawing closer though and unfortunately, there are a lot of empty chairs and tables cluttering her way. A fact which she isn't noticing anymore.

Predictably, while she's busy blushing and blinking at Yukito, she trips over a chair and falls noisily over, crashing into a small table and hurtling to the ground with it atop her, sending a few forgotten empty glasses flying and reflexively kicking a chair into the air, right on time for the glasses to smash on it and rain glass shards everywhere as the chair tumbles down on her prone figure.

They all jump to their feet dismayed, trying to help her, but she's already getting up on her own and dusting herself off.

“Oops...” she exclaims, more cheerfully than they expect. She unfazedly whips out her wand and waves it haphazardly around, more or less restoring the furniture to a somewhat crooked but overall fixed state. “Ehm, sorry about that. I'm dead clumsy. Yeah. Nearly failed on Stealth and Tracking during Auror training...”

Harry has to bite his lip to avoid laughing.

She finishes dusting herself off with cheerful aplomb and then turns to them again: “Anyway! I'm Auror Tonks, and that's my partner Williamson,” she waves her wand even more haphazardly towards a broad-shouldered man with a long ponytail, who stands warily a few steps back.

“Pleased to meet you,” they all say politely and she blinks, a little surprised as that's not the reaction she usually gets to her badge.

“Right. Well,” she clears her throat a little embarrassedly. “We've been asked to check on, well, _that,”_ she points to Keroberos, who is carefully licking his fifteenth bowl of ice-cream clean, and gives her his most lofty glare. “Whatever it is.”

Keroberos glowers at her and ostentatiously curls a paw around his bowl of strawberry ice-cream and caramel sauce protectively. Harry intercepts Yukito's gaze and they break into uncontrollable giggles.

“Is there a problem, by chance?” asks Eriol, suave, polite concern radiating from his countenance. “I do hope we're not inconveniencing anyone...”

His face is just a little bit solicitous, just a little bit puzzled – and in just the right measure. As if he wants nothing more than to please and appease his interlocutors, but couldn't for the life of him imagine why they're upset in the first place. It's guaranteed to make whoever addressed him feel like a heel for even harbouring the slightest suspicions about Eriol's integrity and general wonderfulness.

It's an expression Harry has learned to be highly suspicious of. Eriol's perfectly able to use it for the most innocuous of situations - offering a cup of tea, for instance – only for the target to find out later on that all the while he was busy pulling the strings of a highly secret, covert operation.

When combined with his smooth, engaging manners, it's a sure way to manipulate anyone who doesn't know him well enough into doing his bidding and even be glad about it.

The poor Auror is no exception: as soon as he turns his charming, shy smile on her, she falls over herself to assure him that everything's fine.

“Ah... ah! N-no, no, no, no! Not at all! It's just... it's nothing bad, just a routine check! We got a report, you know, sometime ago even, for some reason it took us a while to find you...”

She frowns, as if the puzzling circumstance has just come to her mind again, and Eriol is quick to reassure and distract her at once: “Notice-me-not Spell,” he explains with an apologetic smile. “People kept staring at us and I'm afraid I found it rather unnerving so...” he smiles self-deprecatingly.

“Ah, well, perfectly understandable...” the Auror coughs slightly, uncomfortable and sheepish all of all of a sudden for forcing him into an explanation that should have been so natural and obvious. Never mind that it's her _job_ to force explanations out of people!

Typical Eriol. The Dark of his magic reflects his nature: secretiveness, quiet humour, wisdom and manipulation all elegantly wrapped up in that sophisticated air he always has about him.

Harry shakes his head in mute admiration. No wonder the bloke is so good at stirring trouble. He can wrap anyone around his little finger in a matter of minutes. Such a finely tuned technique!

“Ah, I am glad that we got everything sorted out!” he smiles sweetly.

“We have?” asks the pink-haired woman, adorably bewildered.

“Naturally! Doesn't the sun look a little brighter already?”

Harry stifles a chuckle. He has maintained for years that, if someone were to ask Eriol what his hobbies are, the truthful response would be 'confusing people'. He's quite good at it, too.

The Auror stares at him, but then shrugs the odd comment off – a testimony to her force of will, in Harry's eyes - and forges on: “No, listen, about the lion-like thingie...”

Keroberos spits and splutters in indignation, but as his mouth is full of ice-cream, it doesn't deter the Auror: “Decree Number 120/17 as compiled by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures states that any pet with classification equal or above XXX must be leashed in public areas. As that... whatever it is, is clearly at least XXXX...” she waves at the armoured feline.

“Ehi!” Kero shouts, puffing up with indignation and trying to lunge at her, only to be halted by Yukito's prompt grasp. “Who are you calling a pet?” he yells, waving a fisted paw threateningly.

“Oh! It speaks!” yelps the woman, jumping back.

“Of course I do, you silly wench! Don't you know who I am? I'm the wonderful Beast of the Seal and-”

“Yes, yes...” mutters Yukito, clamping a hand down on Kero's muzzle and dazzling the bewildered Auror with a bright smile while the Sun Guardian struggles in his grip. “Never mind him, please!”

“That's... that's...” the woman gapes.

Kero wrenches himself free and plants his front paw on the nearest table, striking a pose: “Hah! Hahahaha! You're speechless! I bet you're awed by my beauty and awesomeness, aren't you?”

Harry face-palms. Trust Kero...

Suddenly, the woman recovers and a light of mischief enters her eyes: “If that's a pick-up line, it's the most ridiculous I've ever heard,” she deadpans, to Harry and Yukito's chocked disbelief.

Eriol's eyes light up with amused admiration.

“What was that?” shouts Kero. “Why, you pinkish wench! I'll...”

“Don't call me that, you overgrown cat!”

Kero puffs up with outrage: “I'm no cat, woman!”

“No, you're a yellow, furry glutton!” she replies waving at the pile of empty ice-cream bowls.

“I don't think anyone with pink hair should talk!”

“You're just jealous because you're balding!” she retorts.

“Oh, god, she's as bad as Ruby...” moans Spinel very quietly.

Eriol chuckles amiably. “That's so nice, how you bicker like old friends.”

“What!”

“We're _not_!....”

The magician blithely ignores both indignant yelps: “And after such a short acquaintance, too. But then, I almost feel as if I've known you for a long time... ”

“Someone please tell him that _no, he cannot keep her!_ ” mutters Spinel, making Harry guffaw silently.

“Do you not feel as if our meeting must be blessed by a good star?”

As usual, his warm yet distant personality seems to have just the right balance required to charm everyone, and the young Auror is no exception.

“We-ell... well, right, I mean, thanks, I mean... pleasure's mine...” she fumbles, then she rallies and crosses her arms petulantly. “Anyway, that _cat_ should be on a leash!”

“What was that!” shouts Kero.

“Oh, surely not? I know you wouldn't put him through such a humiliation... A lovely woman like you...!”

Harry resists the temptation to rub his eyes in disbelief. Is Eriol _flirting_ with the bubbly woman?

“Look, I'm not saying you're doing anything wrong or anything! I... I can see he's just eating ice-cream...”

She eyes the huge amount of polished off bowls rather balefully and Kero sniffs haughtily.

“It's just... well, we've had some hard times... and people get nervous easily, you see? I'm really sorry...”

“Never had any problem in Japan!” yells Kero, very conveniently leaving out that he doesn't go around looking like a huge feline usually.

“Oh, you're from Japan?” she asks perking up with delighted enthusiasm.

“We are,” nods Harry motioning to himself and Yukito, who smiles at the Auror, making her blush all over again.

“I've never met a Japanese wizard,” she babbles. “You don't look much different from us, though...”

“And why would we?” asks Harry amused.

“Oh, well, I don't know really...” she replies cheerfully. “So what are you doing all the way here, anyway?” she chats on, friendly and eager.

“I am British, but I have lived in Japan for a few years,” is Eriol's calm contribution. “When I learned that my friends would be here today...”

“...You wanted to meet up! Of course!” nods the Auror enthusiastically. “Well, that makes perfect sense! And, it's great – I won't have to do the paperwork then! Since you're foreign...”

This time Harry doesn't stop his laugh. This woman is something else!

“Well, I shall be going then...” she says, her grin faltering a little.

Eriol smiles charmingly: “So soon? Wouldn't you like to join us for a bowl of ice-cream?”

“Oh, now... I really can't... on duty and all...”

“This is the best I've ever tasted,” adds Yukito encouragingly and her cheeks redden while she's struck mute. “Especially the chocolate one with black cherry ripple sauce!”

“I love the rum and raisin one, myself,” she admits automatically. “But that's hardly the point!” she protests right after.

Harry tries not to snicker too openly.

“Then what is the point, Auror Tonks?” asks Eriol disarmingly.

Harry bites back another snicker. Eriol makes an impression on everyone he meets, whether good or bad, he never leaves unnoticed. But it seems that this solar, clumsy Auror is making an impression on him too...

“It's almost time for us to go, anyway,” says Harry softly and he's not surprised when only Yukito hears him. The mischief in the white-haired man is unmistakable and Harry smirks at him: in an instant, The Flower is out, keeping hidden, and provides Eriol with a lovely bouquet of pale pink roses and snowdrops, giggling all the while. The magician shoots Harry a murderous look, but only very briefly as he’s too busy smiling gently at the bubbly woman before him.

Besides, Harry and his Guardians are already slipping away under the cover provided by The Illusion, that is very effectively distracting Auror Williamson and a few passers-by.

Kero is still grumbling and Harry's hand falls upon his head, stroking gently the ruffled fur.

They slide quietly down a discreet alley. Gracefully, Harry throws The Connect into the air, focusing on 'home'.

Suddenly a few steps before them the alley morph seamlessly into their familiar kitchen in Tomoeda, the shadowed, paved back street with trashcans morphing apparently without a hitch into the sunlit, wood-floored room.

Harry sighs lightly at the sudden drain as Yukito steps easily through and Kero moves to follow.

Touya is there, pouring himself a cup of coffee, and he looks up with his peculiar half-smile to greet them.

Harry stops and looks back, to where Eriol is still charming the pink-haired Auror in the middle of a cobbled street lined with odd shops, that he would no doubt have grown familiar with, had his life gone as differently as it was probably supposed to...

“Harry?”

When he turns, the lion-like face of his Sun Guardian is upturned and frowning. “You forgot something or what?”

He shakes his head and smiles: “No... nothing at all.”

His smile widens.

“Let's go home, Kero-chan!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3 of "Meetings" (http://archiveofourown.org/works/4462661/chapters/10140233) is a glimpse of Tonks' perspective on this meeting.

**Author's Note:**

> This story includes both some twisting of canon events and some adjusting of the mechanics of magic, to fit in the crossover universe it's set in.  
> The fic is primarily Anime based, except for the Sakura/Syaoran part, because I left Meilin Li outside of this entirely (and because the manga version of their love story is better anyway).  
> Also, there will be no Kaho Mizuki, because I just can’t stand her (not for any rational reason, she just rubs me wrong): in this universe, she never met Eriol during her time in Europe and was not drafted into his grand plan for the Clow Cards, and it’s her father at the Shrine who helps Sakura capture the Maze Card.


End file.
